JP/3/Cattle

JP/3/Cattle

Cattle being driven toward Jakarta as holiday nears

JAKARTA (JP): Many of the cattle to be slaughtered for
sacrifices on the upcoming Idul Adha Islamic holiday are
suffering from effects of the long trip to Jakarta, an official
said yesterday.

"They experienced what experts call dehydration during the
long journey," Oetoro, chief of the City husbandry office, told
reporters on the steps of City Hall.

In dealing with the case, Oetoro said his office has provided
traders with a half ton of capsules to treat their cattle. The
capsules, locally manufactured and recommended by the Bogor
Agricultural Institute (IPB), function to freshen up the
"exhausted" livestock.

"The medication is distributed to cattle traders free of
charge," he added.

Moslems are obliged to slaughter lambs, goats or cows
according to their budget as a sacrifice on Idul Adha day, May 21
this year, in line with the example set by Prophet Ibrahim.

The God Almighty ordered Prophet Ibrahim to kill his only son
(Prophet) Ismail to test whether he loved his son more than his
creator, but God gave Ibrahim a goat instead when he was about to
execute the order.

The Husbandry office estimated that as of this week Jakarta
has received around 35,000 goats and 2,000 cows from Wonogiri,
Surakarta and Klaten in Central Java, and Lampung on the southern
tip of Sumatra.

He added that his office would also receive assistance from
200 lecturers and post-graduate students of the IPB and 40 from
Gadjah Mada University to examine the health of the cattle to be
slaughtered because Islam dictates that livestock must be healthy
before being sacrificed.

The city has seen an increase in the number of cattle traders
lately to meet the growing demand for livestock. But many of them
prefer to run their businesses in crowded places, even though the
city administration has already designated places expressly for
that purpose. (jsk)