ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has issued a warning against unprofessional butchers and has directed the public to deduct Rs100 from a butchers’ wage if they deliver a cut to the hide of the sacrificial animal.

Though there is no official or standard rate for a butcher’s services during Eid, the warning has handed the butchers of Islamabad an excuse to charge higher rates and issued a press release of their own.

All Pakistan Jamiat-ul Quraish Meat Welfare Association President Khursheed Qureshi said members of the association had been given cards in order to ensure a customer that they are hiring the services of a professional butcher. The association has issued cards to 1,050 of its members.

However, Mr Qureshi said that between 250,000 and 300,000 animals are slaughtered in the federal capital during Eid and that even if every butcher slaughters 200 animals in the three days of Eid, all the animals in the capital will not be slaughtered.

A butcher who is a member of the association charges between Rs10,000 and Rs15,000 for a cattle, which residents say is a lot more than what other butchers charge.

“A butcher from Rawalpindi whose services we used takes Rs5,000 for a bull but the certified butcher we buy meat from all year around is asking for Rs9,000 after a discount,” said Azhar Zaidi, a resident of I-9.

When asked about the price difference, Mr Qureshi said the advantage of hiring the services of a card holding butcher is that their background is accounted for and checked and that it is worth paying the higher price for mitigating the security risks.

The Association of Jamiat Quraish has also established around 450 slaughtering points including in rural areas, most of them in meat shops, in order to facilitate the public.

The Department of Livestock and Dairy Development has also printed advertisements in various national dailies on Monday in which it has given guidelines for protecting animal hides from weather damage, including the application of salt within an hour of skinning.

Published in Dawn September 13th, 2016