Trend in animal sacrifice declining due to inflated prices

The trend of sacrificing animals on Eid-ul-Azha has been declining constantly due to swelling prices of sacrificial animals. Conservative estimates suggest that the country had witnessed a steep decline of around 20 per cent in sacrificing animals this year.
Hide and skin dealers in provincial capital estimate that the Muslims in the country had hardly sacrificed some 4.8 to 5.2 million animals during three days of Eid-ul-Azha, while previous years hides and skin collection figures were hovering around six million animals.
Though, dealers point out, price of animals during Eid-ul-Azha always remain high in comparison to normal days due to high demand, but this year animal prices showed extraordinary increase. They estimated that on average sacrificial animal prices were almost doubled when compared to the previous year; mainly because of inflation, high transportation cost, recent floods and smuggling of animals to Afghanistan.
Speaking to Profit, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) former Senior Vice President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, who is a noted hide and skin dealer in Lahore Chamra Mandi near Misri Shah, said that initial hide and skin collection numbers suggested that some five million animals have been slaughtered during the three days; the numbers were equally divided between small and big animals.
Sheikh Arshad, former senior vice president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and leading trader of hides and skins in Lahore Chamra Mandi – the largest market of Pakistan that deals in animal hides and skin – said that around 5 million animals were slaughtered this year with a ratio of 50 per cent each divided between large and small animals.
He disclosed that the price of hides and skins had registered an increase of over 25 per cent this year as cow and calf hide was being traded at Rs3,500 to Rs4,500 per piece, which was available at Rs2,800 to Rs3,000 per piece in 2010. A similar trend was being seen in the prices of sheep and goats skins as these were being changing hands at Rs700 to Rs750 per piece that was available at Rs400 to Rs450 last year, he added.
Responding to a query, Arshad said that inflation had changed the sacrificial habits of masses as hide and skin collection numbers had shown that traders received more hides of cows, camels and calves, while some three-four decades ago hide dealers only received 10 per cent of the hides of big animals. He underlined that smuggling of live animals to neighbouring countres was the major reason in additional price hike.
Another dealer at Lahore Chamra Mandi said that Muslims always prefer to choose healthy animal for sacrifice on Eid-ul-Adha. Three days of Eid-ul-Azha are considered as the price season for hide and skin dealers, tanners and leather merchants. He estimated that around Rs170 billion trading activity, including sale and purchase of sacrificial animals and their hides, was being conducted during the three days of Eid-ul-Azha in different parts of the country.
He said as the sacrificing trend was declining the prices of hides and skins were increasing rapidly, which was a great concern of leather product manufacturers. He further stated that the shortage of raw material (hides and skins) was pushing the prices of leather products in local and international markets that would ultimately hurt the leather goods exports from Pakistan.