Although a large number of people in the metropolis visit the traditional cattle markets being set up at different areas of the city like Bakar Mandi, Sagian Bridge and Kahna to purchase sacrificial animals, some chose to buy from different cattle farms established around the city.
The cattle farms are boasting about the "best breed of animals" available in their stock at better price.
Muslim celebrates Eidul Azha in Zilhaj, the last month of Islamic calendar and sacrifice millions of animals including goats, sheep, cows, calf and camels and now when Eid is a month ahead, the cattle farms have launched their marketing campaign through leading newspapers and even through online shopping websites.
Pakistanis sacrifice hundreds of thousands of animals annually on the occasion of Eidul Azha, marking the second major religious festival of Islam.
The sale and purchase of sacrificial animals is gaining momentum day by day in the provincial capital though the prices of animals are beyond the purchasing power of the citizens.
It was seen that majority of sellers of sacrificial animals are demanding very high rates as there is no price regulatory mechanism introduced by the city government.
On an average over 400,000 sacrificial animals are slaughtered in the city on every Eidul Azha and out of the total number of sacrificial animals around 250,000 are small animals ie goats and sheep while the rest of them are big animals, like cows, calves, camels, etc, said an official of the City government.
Survey of different sale points revealed that the price of a normal size goat ranges from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000, a lamb/sheep from Rs30,000 to Rs 65,000 and a cow/calf from Rs 75,000 to Rs 150,000 in most of the city markets.
This survey shows that prices are higher than the prices of the sacrificial animals in the previous year due to hike in dollar's price.
Dildar Ali, a citizen told this scribe that he had decided to purchase animal from any farm as prices were very high in the markets.
Azhar Malik, a shopkeeper of Chungi Amarsidhu who had bought a bull for Eid said that he had bought it from a farm where animals were being sold at Rs 350 per kilogram and his experience remained pleasant.