Butchers set expensive rates to slaughter animals

Hiring a professional butcher on minimal charges is a herculean task

ISLAMABAD:

After having to get their sacrificial animals from cattle markets at inflated rates, finding a professional butcher to slaughter an animal at a reasonable rate almost becomes an uphill task for most of the people during Eidul Azha.

A great number of professional butchers are taking more and more orders from the people to gain maximum profit for slaughtering the animals on the occasion of Eid, it transpired during a survey conducted.

During the survey, it revealed that butchers in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are demanding rates of Rs10,000 to Rs15,000 for slaughtering large animals such as bull, cow, and camel while Rs3,000 to Rs6,000 for small animals such as goats or sheep.

Imran Abbasi, a resident of F-10 Markaz said, that it has become difficult to buy animals to perform the sacrifice ritual due to the prevailing inflation in the country.

"We first have to roam around to find an animal at an affordable rate and then look for a butcher," he lamented. After buying the animal, hiring a professional butcher on minimal charges to perform the ritual is another herculean task, he added.

Read Butchers demand high charges on Eid

Irum Saba, a government employee said, although different stores were offering packages of sacrifice animals through sharing, the sharing amount was too much and the meat they gave in return was too low in quantity.

"We also cannot rely on online shops in terms of quality of meat and procedures adopted for sacrificing the animal so we are left with no option but to buy the animal and hire a professional butcher", she maintained.

She said that butchers charge heavily and after sacrificing the animal, they also start demanding meat of their own choice and hides of animal which was unjustified.

Maqsood Ahmad, a butcher in G-9 Markaz, said they charge a high amount due to their professional work as, according to him, many butchers do not know how to slaughter the animal and cut the meat properly.

"Most butchers lack the expertise to slaughter animals. Unprofessional butchers also end up damaging hides of the sacrificial animals," he stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2021.