The local Village Development Committee sponsors this annual festival. Such a cruel and vicious act inflicted on an animal has no place in a civilized society and should be banned immediately.

Animal Welfare Network Nepal has drafted an Animal Welfare Act. Help us to get the act passed by the parliament!

After 200.000 animals were killed at Gadhimai festival in 2009, the Animal Welfare Network Nepal launched a 5-year campaign aiming at a phase wise ban on blood sacrifices. We call on the government to support our efforts.

Perhaps you cannot. However, events such as these take place regularly in Nepal. We at Friends of SPCAN have launched the 'Worship Without Cruelty' campaign in order to raise awareness about these practices and to ty and stop them. Please take 5 minutes of your time to write a letter to the Nepalese authorities and/or Nepalese Embassy in your country.

The Gadimai Mela takes place every five years in Bariyarpur, Bara district, in the south of Nepal and is scheduled for Kartik (October-November) this year. The fair is infamous for the large number of animals (up to 200.000) which are sacrificed to appease the Gadimai goddess. The fair reaches its climax on an 'auspicious' day, when thousands of buffaloes are sacrificed. The blood letting that takes place turns the entire area into a marshy land of blood. It is expected that this year some 60.000 young he-buffaloes will be killed, as well as an additional 140.000 chicken, goats, pigs, birds and other poultry.

The first ritual during Gadimai is to worship the weapons which are used in the sacrifice. The priests chant different hymns to appease the Goddess Gadimai. Once the pre-sacrificial rituals end the animals are brought in for the kill. The sacrifice starts with the offering of five different animals: pig, buffalo, goat, wild rats and birds which include chicken and pigeon. The different animals represent the mental obscurations sacrificed by the community including anger, stupidity and desire.

After the sacrifice of the first animal, a goat, thousands of pigeons are sacrificed by severing their heads. Next three wild rats are brought and sacrificed before a comb like pole. After this more than 250 people carrying naked swords and axes wrapped in red clothes, all with a license to kill, approach the temple. They frantically rush towards the field where more than 7,000 young buffaloes are kept. Before the beasts are slaughtered, seven buffaloes tied to a pole undergo the sacrificial ritual. In the end, only the heads of those gentle animals who were alive just a few moments ago, remain.

The Khokana festival is held every year in August, the day after Gai Jatra. A 5-6 month old goat is thrown in a pond close to Rudrayani temple in Khokana, a village in the south of Kathmandu Valley. Nine young men enter the pond and start to tear the goat apart by grasping its legs, ears, hoof or tail. The one who manages to kill the goat is the 'hero' and leads the Shinkali dance which is held afterwards. Khokana residents have witnessed the barbaric scene year in year out and think it provides religious merit. It is not clear why and when the cruel goat-killing was introduced. Locals believe that when children started to drown in the pond in the 12th century, residents started to drown a live goat to appease the gods. However, there is evidence showing that devotees in former times offered fruits and flowers in the temple and that the act with the struggling goat was introduced to create a spectacle.

The campaign against the Gadimai and Khokana cruelties will include letter writing to Nepal's political leaders, awareness raising programmes in schools following by signature campaigns, meetings with Bara officials and possibly a demonstration.

A video of the cruel killing can be viewed here:

This is exactly what -if nothing is done- will happen from November 24, 2009, onwards in Nepal. The Gadimai Festival in Bariyarpur, Bara District, is held each 5 years. The mass sacrifice turns the entire area into a marshy land of blood. The Animal Welfare Network Nepal together with Anti-sacrifice Alliance want to end this bloody, cruel practice.

For more information go to Worship Without Cruelty at http://animalnepal.org/campaigns_wwc.htm

Animal Welfare Network Nepal strongly condemns this initiative and requests the government to stop this cruel blood sport.

KCA is a unique area which has been recognised as a Gift to the Earth by WWF's Living Planet Campaign. It is also selected as one of the 200 eco regions by WWF.

The government wants to allow international hunters to kill Himalayan Blue Sheep. These are the prey species of the highly endangered Snow Leopard.

Also, income from hunting generally does not benefit local communities and wildlife. AWNN wants the government to continue to develop KCA as an eco tourism destination, using community participation.

Contrary to what many believe, the number of dogs does not go down after poisoning. Within half a year the population recovers and often even increases. Besides, strychnine poison can harm humans and other animals. The disposal of the bodies is a major concern.

Humane solutions like Animal Birth Control/Ant Rabies have been introduced in Nepal a decade ago. That is why poisoning dogs is not only inhumane, it is also ineffective and outdated.

Animal Nepal is concerned about the activities of the Washington National Primate Center (WNPC) and the Nepal Natural History Society.

Following the Indian ban on the export of rhesus monkeys for use in bio-medical research, Western research labs now seem to be eyeing Nepali monkeys. WNPC and its Nepali counterpart, NHS, have established a breeding centre for Nepalese rhesus monkeys at Lele, Kathmandu Valley. The monkeys in future are to be exported to the US and undergo painful and sometimes deadly tests.

Nepal's Hindus honour monkeys as a reincarnation of Lord Hanuman; Buddhists believe no animal can be killed or subjected to cruelties. Monkeys are a very important part of the country's natural and cultural heritage.

As citizens we are proud of our primates and do not want them to suffer unnecessarily. We certainly do not want our monkeys to end up in an American lab, subjected to horrifying experiments.