Two days left: Cattle markets start pulling crowds

Buyers say they are observing market trends and hope prices will fall a day or two before Eid

LAHORE: With Eidul Azha just two days away, the number of visitors to cattle markets in the city has started growing. While there are a large number of visitors at these markets, not all of them are buying animals.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Arslan said he was observing the market trend and was hopeful that animal prices would fall a day or two before Eid. He said that cattle farmers and traders had raised animals’ prices considerably compared to previous years. “The asking price for a cow or bull ranges from Rs150,000 to Rs180,000. For an average size goat, the asking price varies between Rs30,000 and Rs40,000. For a well-built goat, the asking price is up to Rs50,000,” he said.

Muhammad Ali said that he had come to the cattle market to buy a sacrificial goat, but he had yet to find an animal that fit his budget. He said that animal prices were quite high. He said he would go for share in a cow if the price trend persisted.

Umair Butt narrated a similar story. He said the government should regulate sacrificial animals’ prices, safeguarding the interests of both buyers and sellers.

Cattle trader Sharafat Ali at the market near Saggian Bridge said that sacrificial animals’ prices were almost 50 per cent higher this year than the last year. He said that cattle farmers and traders had to bear transportation costs to bring their animals to the market. He said the city administration would charge every seller Rs3,000 before allowing him to enter the cattle market.

Trader Wazir Malhi said that taxes levied on the animals had risen over the years. As a result, he said, animals’ prices had also gone up. He said though cattle markets had been flooded by visitors, there was a dearth of serious buyers.  The City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) has notified points for sale of sacrificial animals in all nine towns of the provincial capital. Nevertheless, some traders have been seen roaming in the city with two or three animals for sale.

The CDGL, in collaboration with the Punjab Livestock Department, has set up seven checkpoints at entrances to the city to fumigate sacrificial animals keeping in view the Congo virus scare.

A CDGL spokesman said that more than 100,000 sacrificial animals had been fumigated at these checkpoints so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.