RIYADH, 19 December 2007 — Riyadh Municipality announced its directives yesterday for organizing the slaughtering of sacrificial sheep on the first day of Eid Al-Adha.
The municipality announced that it has specified 12 sites in the capital at which citizens and residents can drop off their sheep and collect the meat later. The 12 points have already begun receiving sheep for slaughter and will continue Tuesday and on the morning of Eid. Each point consists of a stockade for between 70 and 80 sheep at a time. The sheep are then transported to municipality slaughtering houses. The process aims at curbing unhygienic slaughtering and also ensures that sheep are slaughtered under veterinary supervision.
The drop off and delivery process takes approximately twelve hours during which the sheep are collected at the point of delivery, marked by number, and then delivered to the slaughter house. Each customer fills out a form at the delivery point, specifying his name and details. He then returns to the same point to collect the meat after submitting the receipt. The fee charged is SR50 which includes a veterinary check of the sheep before the slaughter, providing food and water for the sheep before its slaughter and for the meat to be cut and put into a box for delivery.
To ensure that sheep are not mixed up, employees at each delivery point mark a number on the sheep's left leg which is the same as the collection number of its owner.
The 12 drop off points specified by the Riyadh Municipality are: Al-Uraija, Al-Shumaisi, Al-Shifa, Al-Malaz, Namar, Al-Sulay, Al-Rawda, Al-Naseem, Al-Batha, Olaya, Al-Maathar, as well as an area on Prince Saud ibn Muhammad street.
Sources in the Saudi sheep market have estimated that nearly 11 million sheep will be slaughtered in the Kingdom this year. Most of the sacrificial meat will be mutton, but camels and cows are also slaughtered as a sign of gratitude to the Lord for his blessings.
Arab News visited the Riyadh Sheep Market and saw many advertisements by local sheep companies guaranteeing disease-free animals. Compensation is also offered if an animal is diseased. Though large companies dominate the market, small independent herders from the north of the Kingdom come to sell their herds as well.
The prices of local sheep in the market range from SR800 to SR 1,400 depending on the type of sheep, its weight, and origin.
Muhammad Al-Otaibi, a local sheep merchant, said he expected an increase in the number of sheep slaughtered in the Kingdom this year since sheep import problems with neighboring Arab countries had been solved. He ruled out, however, that price increases were due to the greed of businessmen.
One customer in the market found the prices too high. "I wanted to buy a sheep to sacrifice it here in Riyadh but these prices are ridiculous," he said. "I've changed my plans and intend to spend Eid day at my parents' house outside Riyadh where sheep are sold there at half the price they are sold for here," he said.
