Eid trivia: More animals slaughtered this year

ISLAMABAD: 

Eidul Azha saw a 10 to 12 per cent increase in the number of animal sacrifices in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad this year, according to the Pakistan Butchers Welfare Association (PBWA).

Prices of animal hides registered an odd decline. PHOTO: THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

Talking to The Express Tribune, PBWA President Khurshid Qureshi said the reason behind this increase is that people who could not afford sacrificial animals last year opted to buy shares instead.

He said that last year, around 50,000 animals were slaughtered in Islamabad, which grew to 55,000 this year. Meanwhile, last year Rawalpindi saw around 100,000 animals slaughtered on Eidul Azha, while this year the number increased to 112,000. Qureshi said that the rise in collective sacrifices caused a decline in the number of smaller animals like goats and sheep slaughtered.

Meanwhile, like every Eid, butchers increased their rates on Eidul Azha. Last year, butchers charged Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 for slaughtering a goat or a sheep, while this year they asked for Rs2,500 to Rs4,000. The rate for a bull last year was Rs8,000 to Rs10,000, while this year it increased to the Rs9,000 to Rs12,000 range, depending on the size and weight of the animal, said Qureshi.

Oddly, there was a decline in the prices of animal hides.

In past years, the hide of a goat sold for up to Rs 600, while this year, the price range was Rs200 to Rs300. Similarly, lamb hides sold for Rs500 to Rs1,100 last year, while they only fetched a return of Rs400 to Rs600 this time. Bull hides sold for Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 last year, fell to Rs1,600 to Rs2,800 range.

Mohammad Sharif, who has been a leather trader for the past 10 years, said, “Compared to last year, we received more hides, but due to the lower prices we did not earn the profit we expected.”

According to him there is a certain mafia who decrease the prices for its own self interest.

New Link:–http://tribune.com.pk/story/458042/eid-trivia-more-animals-slaughtered-this-year/

The President of Pakistan: Stop the Mistreatment of Animals at the Islamabad Zoo

 

Published on 1 May 2012 by theexpresstribune

An elephant‘s life is up to 90 to 110 years of age, unfortunately Saheli was 22 years old and lived a short life at the zoo.

“Listen to what the girl says at the end, turn up your speakers”

Published on 6 May 2012 by numairshahzada

Saheli was given to Pakistan as a gift from the Sri-Lankan government in 1991. She was a beautiful gentle beast who made a place for herself in all our hearts. Every one of us possibly has a childhood memory with her. Sadly though, on Tuesday, at the age of 22, Saheli passed away. She had been sick for months but was not treated till her health had deteriorated to the point of no return. Some say she was injured while others say she was poisoned. If you are just as disgusted and appalled by the death of this beautiful creature, if you have fond childhood memories with her, or are just someone who loves animals and is against their mistreatment, join us in protesting the ill treatment and death of our gentle Saheli. Raise your voice with ours and lets bring about some change. Contact me https://www.facebook.com/numair.s orhttps://www.facebook.com/omar.saleem.31 for more information. Special thanks to https://www.facebook.com/hasan.alam andhttps://www.facebook.com/ali.maqbool for helping us make this video. Please share.

What instigated a protest and now this petition was the unnatural death of an elephant at the Islamabad Zoo. A female elephant named Saheli died at the young age of 22 because she was not looked after.

A minor foot injury coupled with neglect and improper medical treatment led to her falling to the ground and dying a few days later. Vets were not contacted till after her health has deteriorated to a point of no return. Let’s not let the loss of her life be in vain.

The Islamabad Zoo has on many occasions been the target of controversy. Animals have mysteriously disappeared or died, or been sold off to private collectors. This must be stopped.

We’re demanding for:

Zoo Management should be rotated

Citizens should be given more control over what goes on at the zoo. There should be a body that monitors all activity and accepts complains

Better treatment of the remaining male elephant. REMOVE HIS CHAINS

Transparent management and accountability for animal cruelty

Updates on animal count and health status on a social platform such as Facebook

Enquiry into all animal disappearances

Let’s not let this be forgotten. Let’s not let this happens again. It’s up to us to protect these helpless animals. Take some time out of your daily routine for this cause and sign the petition.

Sign the petition here:-http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-pakistan-stop-the-mistreatment-of-animals-at-the-islamabad-zoo

Close down all the zoos

For we do not deserve the poor things, the animal haters that we are. While one has long seen and felt the plight of these creatures in the Citadel of Islam, the death of young Saheli, the female Sri Lankan Asian elephant at Marghzar Zoo in Islamabad has really shaken one to the core.

Note that whilst Asian elephants live to an average age of 60-some years, Saheli is dead at just 22 of a sore foot! I ask you! And what has the great CDA done? Suspended her caretaker mahout, Mohammad, possibly the only one who really cared for the animal. News reports suggest that he was crying like a baby at Saheli’s death, intoning repeatedly through copious tears: “She was only one year old when she came into my care, only one year old”. Does nobody else at the zoo, Mohammad’s superiors, carry any of the blame for Saheli’s death? I suppose not, for this is the Land of the Pure where the axe always falls on the weakest, most powerless.

One has lived all one’s life in this country and has seen the progressive decline in animal care; and a rise in cruelty towards animals in direct tandem with the rise in jihadism and religious extremism. Walk down any street and you will see that the very first reaction of most people to a passing dog is to cast about looking for a stone, or brick, or stick to throw at the cur.

Go to any zoo and you will see people torment the animals, specially monkeys and apes, by screaming at them, making faces at them; in one case that I witnessed myself, actually prodding a leopard with sticks, which anecdote I must tell here in detail. It was at selfsame Marghzar Zoo where I was walking around several years ago on a bright and sunny winter morning.

What do I see but a bunch of Talibs (young madrassa kids, seven to 18 years old) poking the leopard with a long stick, through the bars of his cage, as he lay warming himself in the sun. It was fascinating to see the dignity with which the beautiful cat looked at his tormentors, as if to say, “My world is already taken away; what more can you awful people do to me?”

I saw red of course and looking around for a zoo worker shouted out to one to come open the gate of the cage so that these brave young men could go in and fight the leopard. The boys immediately desisted and ran away to another part of the zoo.

However, here we are talking about lay yahoos who would tease animals; what about zoo officials and veterinarians, the people actually in charge of zoos and the welfare of animals supposedly in their care? Stories are rife about the scant care that is taken in looking after the creatures. A giraffe died in Lahore zoo not too long ago because he had ingested a plastic bag, which had probably been thrown at him by a visiting yahoo.

Neither is any attention paid to inbreeding in the case of lions and tigers resulting in a shrinking gene pool that is producing sick and weak offspring. Inbreeding is widespread and is taken more as an exotic quality (as in White Tigers) rather than as a serious health problem. Indeed, one has seen tigers with such deformed features as are frightening to behold.

Read the rest of this interesting article:-http://tribune.com.pk/story/373629/close-down-all-the-zoos/

News from The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — With a police officer wounded and the presidential palace breached, the Pakistani capital has launched a fresh offensive against a uniquely feared enemy in the Muslim country – the city’s ever expanding population of wild boar.

Each night, packs of the hairy beasts emerge from Islamabad’s river beds, parks and scrubland to rifle through the overflowing rubbish bins of its mostly wealthy residents and growing number of restaurants.

City authorities are laying poison and have announced free hunting permits to cull the wild pigs‘ numbers. But to make sure residents don’t get caught in the crossfire, they only allow shotguns. There have been few takers. Hunters are wary of getting arrested by the police, or even worse – getting mistaken for a terrorist.

The animals can weigh up to 180 to 220 pounds (80 kilograms to 100 kilograms) and have razor sharp teeth. Adult males come armed with upward curving tusks. While they scurry off at the site of humans, they charge when cornered, alarmed or wounded and are a major cause of traffic accidents in the city.

The latest chapter of man versus hog played out in a city center police station last week.

“Someone shouted ‘watch your back’ but before I could look round the animal had hit me,” said Sajjad Hussain, who was on duty when the animal slipped in past the high, razor wire-topped blast walls after guards opened the gates to let in a car.

Hussain had a gash in his stomach that required eight stitches and is on medical leave.

via News from The Associated Press.