More than 1 million people have gathered in a Nepalese temple recently as the slaughter of thousands of animals is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and Nov. 29. The ritual occurs every five years in honor of the Hindu goddess Gadhimai, according to The Washington Post.
During the last festival in 2009, an estimated 250,000 buffalo, goats, sheep and chickens were killed in southern Nepal. Most of the animals are babies smuggled illegally over the border from India, according to The Washington Post. The festival technically started on Nov. 15, but the animal sacrifices are set for the end of the month, according to Daily Mail.
Indian security has intercepted more than 2,400 animals and more than 100 people have been arrested, according to Daily Mail. "Our volunteers and other organizations are working to stop animals being illegally transported to Nepal for sacrifice," Humane Society activist Navamita Mukherjee said, according to Daily Mail.
After animal rights activists petitioned India's Supreme Court, the court told the government last month not to allow smuggled animals into Nepal. But 70 percent of the animals marked for slaughter have come from four of India's neighboring states, according to Daily Mail.
"We've been trying to check animal smuggling but it's a fact they're being illegally transported to Nepal for sacrifice," Ratneshwar Singh of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said, according to Daily Mail.
"It's madness, it's really madness," said N.G. Jayasimha, director of the Humane Society International of India, according to The Washington Post. "There are no roads, no infrastructure, not a single public bus, no sanitation and no drinking water. There are human feces everywhere. A number of people have come, and everybody is carrying an animal to be sacrificed."
Activists believe festival attendance has dropped since an estimated 5 million people attended the 2009 event, but health concerns are still high, according to The Washington Post.
More than 2,000 baby buffalo have been assembled in a large arena waiting for the start of the ritual at 3 a.m. on Friday. According to The Washington Post, the chief priest will emblematically shed some of his own blood by cutting himself before the animals are killed. After the slaughter, a Nepalese meat contractor will remove the meat and skins while the buffalo skulls are piled into a pit to be worshipped.
There is a Change.org petition asking the Supreme Court of Nepal to stop the ritual sacrifice.
