Quest to beautify animals generates business

Sellers say decorated livestock retailed at higher price

LAHORE:

After buying animals for sacrifice on Eidul Azha, a large number of people decorate them with henna, tattoos, jewellery, stains and stamps.

Kiosks displaying decorative items to beautify the sacrificial animals are often placed outside the cattle markets so that animal buyers decorate them before taking them home. There is something for every animal, whether it is a goat, camel, sheep or bull.

“This year, the use of seals and stamps of various bright colours was in fashion for making the animals attractive,” Mohammad Ramzan, who sells decorative items outside the Lakho Der cattle market, highlighted.

“The price of decor had also increased and a good quality item was sold for Rs500 to Rs800,” he maintained.

When asked which jewellery item sold well on the occasion, he immediately remarked, “Anklets were in high demand as their unique sound marks the arrival of the animal.”

He said people also bought elaborate crowns, garlands, colorful ropes and covers for their sacrificial animals.

Their prices were determined according to their beauty and quality; the cheapest one cost around Rs25 while the costliest one was sold at around Rs1,000.

“The more expensive the animal, the more people spent on decorating it,” he claimed.

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Mohammad Sajid, a young vendor selling animal ornaments, said, “Traders also bought jewellery for their herds to make them standout in the crowd.”

A herd owner told The Express Tribune that decorated animals had sold at a higher price, which is why he had bought ornaments to increase their sale value. “What pleases the eye is more sellable,” he stated.

On the other hand, the citizens complained of inflation.

“The prices had increased up to 25% compared to last year. It is fleecing!” a citizen bothered by overblown prices protested.

Vendors responded to the assertion by saying that the supply chain was affected during the lockdown, leading to an increase in prices.

“We usually import ornaments for sacrificial animals from China but this year the goods did not arrive,“ a vendor named Zahoor said. Limited local production resulted in the drastic increase in the prices of jewellery and other items in the market, he pointed out.

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A young man, Mubashir Hassan, said he had saved some jewellery of the goat he had bought last year and had bought additional stuff this time.

Another buyer, Muhammad Altaf, got his goats and sheep henna tattooed. “They looked prettier and smell better too.”

Expressing his excitement, he said, if one could buy sacrificial animals worth thousands of rupees, there was no harm in spending a little extra money for decorating them.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2020.