The Gadhimai festival, the world's largest animal sacrifice event began on Tuesday morning in Nepal, despite fierce objections from animal rights groups. The Gadhimai festival - a two day event - began with the killing of a goat, a rat, a pig and a pigeon by a priest, who also drew blood from five points of his body. This was followed by the descent of 200 butchers wielding carved kukri knives into the temple arena - a walled arena bigger than a football field - ready to behead an estimated 3,500 buffalo. Excited devotees climbed trees to watch the bloodbath. This religious event has been held every five years for the last 260 years, in Bariyarpur village, Nepal. In 2009, at the height of the festival, an estimated 500,000 buffalo, goats, pigeons, pigs and other animals were slaughtered, according to Humane Society International. The said NGO reports the number dropped to about 30,000 in 2014. In 2015, Gadhimai Temple Trust - the festiva...
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