London, Dec.26 : Hundreds of Hindus have decided to protest outside the RSPCA headquarters here at the slaughter of a sick sacred cow at their temple while they were at worship.

According to The Daily News, the RSPCA was accused of secretly killing Gangotri, a 13-year-old Belgian blue-jersey cross, by lethal injection at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire.

The temple's spokesman, Vinay Tanna, said: "We are holding a peaceful prayer protest at the way Gangotri was killed. The RSPCA made the equivalent of a citizen's arrest - they went in and made the decision to kill the cow immediately. Given the chance we would have taken legal action to try to stop it."

The temple is sending 200 delegates to the RSPCA headquarters in Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex.

Cows are sacred to Hindus and the killing of one is considered sacrilege.

The temple runs The Cow Protection Project and allows old cows and bulls to die naturally. (ANI)