1.   The needless slaughter has been going on for more than a century.

2.   But animal-rights activists are outraged by what they call the needless slaughter of snakes.

3.   Those incidents range from decapitation, massacre of prisoners, murders of fellow Americans, needless slaughter of Vietnamese civilians and mutilation of their bodies.

4.   The new test should allow veterinarians to diagnose the cattle illness much more precisely, sparing the needless slaughter of animals that look sick but are actually healthy.