Has Tony Yengeni's ritual bull slaughter been unfairly highlighted because of his high profile?

Of the 1 290 IOL readers who answered yesterday's poll question, 550 (43%) said yes, while 740 (57%) said no.

Here are some of the comments:

Vivienne: "He chose to invite the press. He can't complain now about what they reported."

Charmaine Smith: "No, I do not think the slaughter is being unfairly highlighted. I am an animal lover and very much in favour of the investigation and charges going ahead if found guilty. Thank you, SPCA, for doing a great job!"

Lebo Baraza: "I believe that what they are doing to Tony is not fair. Everyone has the right to practise their own culture.

"If for every cow that was killed with a spear there was this much media fuss, then the only news would be of cow slaughtering.

"It happens in the rural areas all the time, and - yes - with a spear. This fuss is clearly because Yengeni is a high-profile person."

Sidwell: "I would expect Yengeni to keep a low profile for a while. In his case, slaughtering a chicken would have been sufficient. I think people are angry because of Yengeni's arrogance and disrespect for the laws of this country."

Moshe: "If the SPCA is going to charge Yengeni for performing his cultural rituals, then they might as well charge the president and the rest of the Xhosa nation."

Gail Helyar: "Unbelievably archaic and cruel. Are all things, however revolting, to be excused under the name of "culture"?"

Hayden: "Human rights are very important, but conducting ourselves and treating animals humanely separates us from savages."

With acknowledgement to Cape Times.