Goats on wheels: Animal buying gets a digital makeover

ISLAMABAD: The capital’s cattle markets have been crammed for weeks as the country prepares for the sacrificial festival of Eidul Azha this weekend, but in Islamabad, the crowd-weary residents have turned to ordering animals by a mobile phone application instead.

The centuries-old festival is steeped in tradition, but this year some middle-class families are turning to technology to skip the packed markets and ordering their animals via the ride-sharing app Careem.

The app recently introduced a 'Bakra (goat) on wheels' initiative in the run-up to Eid, with specially-painted trucks ferrying the animals to customers.

The response was "substantial", Careem marketing executive Abuzar Khan told AFP, adding they have sold nearly 30 goats so far.

But there was little chance of it threatening demand for animals at the country's bustling cattle markets.

At one market set up temporarily in Islamabad, farmers from across the country soaped and shampooed goats and camels, some shaving patterns into their coats to make them look more appealing in the eyes of judicious customers.

Social media was flooded with videos showing camels being transported by rickshaw and sheep clinging to the back of motorcycles as Pakistanis shepherded their purchases home.

Experts say that the livestock market in Pakistan is growing by up to four per cent annually as more young entrepreneurs are taking an interest, and volume is high during Eid, explained trader Hayat Naqvi.

"The minimum price of a bull, which takes two and a half years to groom, is Rs65,000 and it goes higher than Rs500,00 or Rs600,000, " he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2017.