Five million sacrificial animals to be slaughtered on Eid in KP

PESHAWAR: Like other parts of the country, the faithful in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are also going to celebrate Eidul Azha tomorrow (Saturday) by sacrificing around five million animals during the three days of the festival.

According to the data gathered from the Livestock and Dairy Development Department, it is estimated that 5.00 million animals would be slaughtered on the occasion of Eidul Azha to mark Hazrat Ibrahim (AS)’s Sunnah this year in province. These sacrificial animals include 2.21 million large animals, like bull, buffaloes and camels and 2.84 small animals like sheep and goats.

The projected population of livestock in the province based on livestock census 2006 comprises 20.35 million heads of animals including 6.596 million cattle, 2.611 million buffaloes, 1.946 million sheep, and 8.661 million goats.

Last year, around 4.67 million animals were slaughtered in the province during the three days of Eidul Azha that included 1.98 million large animals, like buffalos, cows and camels and 2.69 million small animals such as goats, sheep and small cows.

The data shows that the requirements for sacrificial meat from small ruminants (goat and sheep) are met from the local market and small animals are also transported to other provinces on the eve of Eid.

However, the province contributes only 20 percent of the large animals slaughtered for sacrificial purpose and about 80 percent of the large animals are usually brought from other provinces, mainly Punjab.

It is also to be noted here that animal movement at a large scale from other provinces possesses a potential threat of spread of animal diseases like CCHF (Conge fever).

The Livestock & Dairy Development Department is providing services for disease prevention in the animals and it has arranged the ticks eradication facilities at formal and makeshift animal markets to minimise the risk of spread of Congo fever.

And this year, the rates of sacrificial animals recorded an increase of 10 to 15 percent as compared to the last year. The prices, like all previous years, vary from animal to animal.

It was observed during the visit to various markets on Thursday that the price of an average goat weighing 30 to 35 kilogram (kg) ranged between Rs30,000 to Rs35,000, while a sheep of the same weight was selling for around Rs25,000 to Rs30,000. Similarly, an animal of good quality was selling in the range of Rs60,000 to Rs 80,000 while the price of an average cow and a calf fluctuated between Rs60,000 and Rs75,000.

The prices of healthy cow and bull which have been brought from Sahiwal and other parts of the southern Punjab ranged between 90,000 to 200,000 and the price of camel was around Rs 120,000 to Rs200,000.

Unlike the posh localities of other cities including Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, none of the online bakra mandi is providing sacrificial animals for Peshawar or other parts of the province.

However, various religious and social organisations, trusts, and even some madrassas have this year, too, arranged qurbani, individual and collective.