Finding sacrificial animals at reasonable price becomes an uphill task

The Bakra Mandi of Rawalpindi/Islamabad and at other notable markets are packed with herds of goats, sheep and cows but due to the high prices people face difficulty in purchasing sacrificial animals, a survey carried out by Business Recorder revealed.
Imran Abbasi, talking to Business Recorder said that for the last seven years he had been sacrificing a goat/sheep on Eids, but this time prices are high and it is very difficult for the middle class families to celebrate the festival. A customer Junaid Iqbal said finding sacrificial animals from cattle market at reasonable price was an uphill task. He said he would take part in collective sacrifice of a cow in association with the management of a nearby mosque. In collective sacrifice, he said cost of a cow was divided by seven and the sum was to be paid by each of the seven shareholders, which ranges between Rs 8,500 to Rs 10,000 per head, which is almost Rs 2,000 higher than the cost a year ago.
Naveed Iqbal said he bought a sheep for Rs 19,000 from Cattle Market. He said though the prices of sacrificial animals were sky rocketing, his children could not resist anymore delay in buying of the animal. He said one could get a healthy animal at a reasonable price on the Eid day when the dealers wanted to dispose of the sacrificial animals.
An animal trader Shafqat Khan said that there are a number of reasons behind the high prices of the sacrificial animals, which include recent floods that swept away thousands of animals, smuggling of cattle heads to neighbouring Afghanistan, high prices of fodder and other animal feeds. He said that he was in the business since long adding that five year ago a healthy goat was available at Rs 25000, price of which is now around Rs 35,000, only because of high input costs and huge smuggling of the animals to Afghanistan.
Customers in makeshift markets in Bagh-e-Sardaran area of Rawalpindi said that the prices have gone up by almost 30 to 50 percent compared to the last year. Mohammad Rafi Awan a schoolteacher in Rawalpindi said that it is very difficult to buy any of these animals, especially for the salaried class. The traders are demanding Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 for a goat having barely 20 kg of meat. He said that some years back a good quality healthy cow was available at Rs 35,000, which at present is being sold at Rs 1000,000.
Safer Awan an animal trader who came from Mianwali to sell his animals in Islamabad talking about high prices of the goats, sheep and cows said that it is because of high inflation, floods and some of the animal traders have only half a dozen goats or other animals and all of them want a decent earning as our major mean of livelihood depends on framing.