A BRITISH animal welfare charity said on Saturday that it would donate a cow to a Hindu temple north of London, in a bid to repair relations that were damaged last year when a sacred cow was put down.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said it was apologising for the offence caused when the 13-year-old Belgian Blue-Jersey cross, Gangotri, was killed last December because it was in pain, but added that it was not apologising for putting the animal down.
Hundreds of Hindus protested outside the RSPCA’s offices last year, accusing the charity of secretly and unnecessarily killing the animal.
On Saturday, the Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire, a Hindu temple where the cow was housed and which was set up by former Beatle George Harrison, said the RSPCA would donate a Meuse-Rhine Issel cow.
"It’s a gesture of reconciliation," RSPCA spokesman Henry Macaulay told reporters.
"We’re not apologising for what we did, because we feel we can’t do that, but we are apologising for the hurt caused."
When the RSPCA put Gangotri down last year, it said that three vets had advised it to do so, but the temple strongly objected to the move, saying that its own vets had not recommended that the cow be killed.
The RSPCA monitors alleged animal cruelty offences in Britain and often brings private prosecutions against offenders.
