This Is Nepalling!

Every August, the Deopokhari festival is held in Khokana, one of the oldest villages in the Kathmandu Valley, central Nepal.
This is part of a celebration of the culture of the Newari people, the indigenous people of the area, and features traditional dancing, music and food.
But also at this cultural event, a live goat is ripped apart by villagers...and this has been going on for 900yrs!

A 5-6mth.old goat is hurled into a pond close to a temple at the centre of the village, then nine young men jump into the pond and begin to tear at the goat with their hands and teeth. They bite, pull and strangle the goat until it's torn apart (often for as long as 40 minutes), and the man deemed to have eventually killed it gets to lead the year's procession.
Animal Welfare Network Nepal (AWNN) has been campaigning against the festival for years, and is rallying international support. World-renowned animals rights charity PETA has joined AWNN in highlighting the damage the festival does to Nepal's international reputation: "It demonstrates obliviousness to world opinion, disrespect for life and an almost uniquely savage and disgusting display of cruelty."
Shocked public from across Europe and Nepal have launched several online petitions, calling on the Nepali Congress Central Office to ban the practice. The largest has been signed by more than 53,000+.
No-one in Nepal can explain why this practice is carried out year after year since the C12th., except to say it's 'traditional'.

And this is not the only Nepalese festival to have drawn the attention of animal rights groups. A two-day religious festival held every five years in Nepal, sees the ritual massacre of 250,000 buffalo, birds and goats. Millions attend this ceremony for the Hindu goddess of power, which is held at her temple in Bariyarpur, near the Indian border.
Today, continuing a vicious practice in the face of generally-accepted norms simply for the sake of 'tradition' is ignorant, blind, self-centred and barbaric. Such acts have no place in the civilised world and should be banned immediately!