People throng animal markets

Traders say high transportation costs have caused prices to balloon

LAHORE:

Despite skyrocketing prices, people have started visiting makeshift and permanent animal markets to get the animals of their choice well before the Eid day to provide their family members, especially children, to spend maximum time with these animals before they are slaughtered to fulfill the command of Allah Almighty.

On Sunday, a large number of people from the provincial metropolis visited various animal markets, including the one at Shahpur Kanjran, which is a permanent and largest such market in Lahore.

Open areas, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, have been specified by the provincial government for purchase and sale of the sacrificial animals.

The Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) has specified 10 sites for makeshift cattle markets and sale points this year, and divided the city into seven zones for the purpose.

Traders and cattle breeders, while responding to a survey, said that the major factors behind the skyrocketing prices of sacrificial animals were high transportation and animal feeding costs.

“Transporting animals from South Punjab to cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi or Faisalabad had become a pricey affair,” Israr Gopang, a livestock breeder from Dera Ghazi Khan, said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2023.