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)