Villagers in Damnak Sangke, Cambodia are in mourning after an indisputably disgusting calf with lizard-like skin perished, probably as a result of its’ horrifying condition. Of course, being really disgusting seems to be some sort of shoo-in precondition for divinity round those parts. The only miraculous act the little bastard has been able to conjure on my end is to ruin my breakfast.

Yim Rith, 60, a community leader, said Cambodians have for centuries worshipped a Cow God believed to bring peace and prosperity. The deity disappeared from their land long ago, but the calf may have been a sign it was returning to help them, he said.

Hundreds of villagers flocked to see the animal, lighting incense to pray for its well-being and collecting its saliva, believed to cure illness. The flood of visitors panicked the cow’s mother, affecting her ability to enough produce milk to feed the calf, and it died.

But the faithful were undeterred. The calf’s corpse was placed on a plastic sheet, and people washed water over it in the hopes of making the liquid holy.

Srey Nak, 72, said that when some was applied to her joints and teeth, long-standing pains and aches went away.

“But I am very upset that the Cow God came to live with us for just three days and has now died,” she said. “If she stayed longer, then many sick people could have been treated.”

Ugh – they rubbed some of that lizard-cow ointment on their teeth? Guess I’ll have to say bye-bye to lunch, too…