Skyrocketing prices: Would-be buyers of animals returning without shopping

RAWALPINDI: The shoppers visiting cattle markets were returning without purchasing as the prices of sacrificial animals were skyrocketing.

With only one week left for Eid-ul-Azha, fewer buyers were seen at the cattle markets set up by the Rawalpindi administration at eleven points in the district.

Residents, who arrived here at Bhatta Chowk sale point along with their children, said on Sunday that animal sellers were demanding excessive prices beyond their purchasing limit.

Adil Mir, a buyer at the market, said last year he purchased a small goat of 25 kilograms for Rs 45,000, but now the same animal was being demanded at up to Rs 90,000, which showed the rate of sacrificial animals had gone up by 100 per cent.

Waqas Younas, another buyer at Adiala Road market, said the rates of goats, sheep, buffalos and cows were inflated, forcing the people to go home empty-handed. He said buffalos and cows of 160 kilograms, which were available at not more than Rs 160,000 last year, were demanded up to Rs 300,000 this year.

He called upon the district administration to take steps to save the public from fleecing of sellers.

When contacted, President Jamiat Ul Quresh Pakistan Khursheed Ahmed Qureshi said that the primary cause of the increase in the prices of animals was the demand and supply gap.

He said that animal production had witnessed a steep decline during previous years as the departments concerned had failed to adopt a comprehensive policy to boost the production of halal meat, resulting in mutton price at Rs 1,700 per kg and beef price per kg at Rs 1,000 in the market.

Giving details about online shopping for sacrificial animals, Qureshi, a member of the Board of Directors of Livestock and Dairy Development Directorate, said that online shopping for sacrificial had reached up to 70 per cent due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding the people preferred online platforms. He said the use of online platforms to purchase sacrificial animals could also be another reason for small crowds at the cattle markets, adding that online companies were offering a goat of 14 kg at Rs. 41,000 and 14 kilograms of share in cows or buffaloes at Rs 20,000.

Gul Khan, a calf seller from Rajanpur, said the rise in transportation charges, cost of animal breeding and bribes collected by the police officials of various departments led to increased animal prices. Meanwhile, Director Livestock Dr Sarfraz Chatta told APP that livestock teams were administering the vaccination to the animals against the LSV and Congo virus while suspected animals were also being separated at the cattle markets. He said that animals found having positive symptoms of Congo or LSV would not be allowed to enter markets at any cost.