Jassim Hassan, a Saudi, said the owner of the kitchen, whom he approached for cooking a sheep for a dinner party, demanded that he should buy the sheep from them. “If I purchase the sheep from them it will cost SR1,300 in addition to SR300 for cooking,” he said.

In the sheep market the price ranges from SR800 to SR1,000.

He urged the municipality to take action against such owners who increase prices during Eid. “This happens during every Eid holidays,” he pointed out.

Fahd Al-Sahmi, another Saudi, urged the municipality officials to inspect kitchens and restaurants in various parts of the city and make sure that they don’t violate rules.

“The owners of restaurants and kitchens believe that people would buy food at any rate during Eid. So they exploit these occasions to make money.”

Ameen Saleh, an elderly person, said in the past he used to prepare food for his guests during Eid himself. “I purchase sheep from the market and cook its myself without approaching kitchens.”

Now the situation is different, Saleh now has joined the people who frequent these kitchens to get the dinner prepared for him and his guests.

“If I could recapture my youthful days, even now I would not approach these kitchens,” he said, condemning their move to increase prices during Eid.

Local media reported on Wednesday that the prices of sheep have gone up by more than 80 percent in some markets in the Kingdom.

Market experts attributed the steep rise in the animal prices to the lack of animal farms in the Kingdom and the hike in the prices of fodder, especially barley.

Dealers expect the prices of sheep to rise further with the advent of Eid Al-Adha when animals are sacrificed according to Islamic rituals.