Butchers demand high charges on Eid

RAWALPINDI:

With Eidul Azha approaching close, the charges of slaughtering small and large sacrificial animals have turned astronomical.

Many unemployed youngsters have become temporary butchers to make money during the three days of the religious festival.

The booking of slaughtering sacrificial animals has started at separate rates based on the day and time.

The rates to slaughter animals between 8am to 11am on the first day of Eid are much higher than the evening of the second day.

The rates overall have increased compared to last year. The butchers are demanding Rs3,000 for slaughtering a goat on the first day with an additional Rs500 for making meat.

Cows will be slaughtered on the morning of the first day for Rs15,000. A goat will be slaughtered for between Rs2,700 to Rs3,000 on the second day of Eid while cows will be slaughtered for Rs13,000.

The rates of slaughtering camels on the second day of Eid is Rs19,000 while the charge for slaughtering a goat on the third day will be Rs2,500 including making meat.

Rs14,000 is being demanded for a camel on the third day along with preparing meat. Because of exorbitant rates, the booking of butchers on the first day is low.

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The rates for the first day are expected to further increase in a next few days.

Citizens who are comfortable with the charges asked by butchers to slaughter animals on the first day have struck deals with butchers.

A large number of citizens have decided to slaughter sacrificial animals themselves. Meanwhile, the city is witnessing the appearance of temporary butchers who are taking bookings.

Most of these groups have come from the rural areas of Jawar near Rawalpindi and other tehsils and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The district administration has issued an advisory to citizens to beware of unprofessional butchers and not hire them.

A citizen, Haji Naveed while talking to The Express Tribune said that it is a more rewarding experience to sacrifice animals on the first day.

Therefore, they are ready to pay high charges to professional butchers. Another preference to sacrifice on the first day is that many people visit their relatives on the second day.

A professional butcher, Shahid, who has come from a rural area, said there aren’t many people who sacrifice animals in rural areas, and those who do, mostly slaughter goats themselves.

Therefore, butchers in rural areas have not much to do and head to the cities to find work.

Two young butchers from KP, Wajid Khan and Shakur Khattak, said that every year they head to Rawalpindi from Peshawar and Nowshera to make extra money.