Prices of sacrificial animals skyrocket in Pindi

As the demand for Fateh Jhang’s healthy and beautiful ‘Dhanni’ breed bull has increased, cattle traders have also jacked the prices immensely ahead of Eidul Azha.

White, tall, heavy and healthy Dhanni bulls are very beautiful in their look. The secret of their beauty is the consumption of five to 10 litres of milk in their diet. Cattle traders at the biggest sacrificial animals’ market in Rawalpindi are charging Rs1 million for a Dhanni bull weighing four to six maunds.

Karim Hussain, a trader from Talagang, has brought 30 Dhanni bulls to the Bhatta Chowk cattle market in Rawalpindi for sale. He says all the bulls in his yard are of the Dhanni breed and adds that a bull consumes 25kg of healthy fodder with five to 10 litres of milk a day. According to Hussain, it usually takes more than three years to look after a bull. He says the demand for Dhanni bulls ranges from Rs800,000 to Rs1.8 million as compared to regular oxen.

Shahzad Ahmed, a potential buyer for the Dhanni breed, says he sacrifices a bull of the rich breed every year. “The prices for cattle have broken all inflationary records in the cattle market this year as a Dhanni bull he bought in Rs180,000 last year is available in Rs700,000 now.”

Ahmed said when he asked the sellers about a huge increase in the price of sacrificial animals, they claimed that as everything had become expensive, the prices of sacrificial animals had also increased.

Muhammad Azeem from Islamabad said that he was returning empty-handed after finding the prices of Dhanni out of his reach this year. “The customers usually bring up to Rs300,000 to buy Dhanni, but vendors demand up to Rs1m for a rich breed bull carrying weight up to six maunds. There is no check and balance in the Bhatta cattle market.” He urged the government to take notice of the exorbitant increase in the price of sacrificial animals to ease the citizens’ pockets.

Jafar Dad, a trader who came from Layyah with 150 sacrificial animals for sale, says the major reasons for an increase in the prices of bulls/oxen were the inflated tax imposed by the contractors in the cattle markets, increase in the prices of cattle fodder, salaries of employees and transport fares, and special feed given to the animals. He further says the medical care of the cattle to protect them from various diseases has also become expensive and questions how could a trader sell expensive animals at cheap prices. The cattle trader urged the government to take notice of an increase in the prices of sacrificial animals while keeping in mind all factors contributing to the increase in prices.

Meanwhile, the Bhatta Chowk cattle market has so far failed to attract customers because of record prices and the dwindling purchasing power of the customers.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2024.