GOAT WATCH 2009

The first day of the Dashain festival approaches and this is like Nepali Christmas over the course of more than a week. A main feature of this is that goats are sacrificed in squares across the country - Durbar Square in Kathmandu of course being the main centre of action. Goats across the country are living on borrowed time, nervously clearing their throats as they imagine the ritual slitting that approaches.

The government promised 6500 goats will be available to sacrifice on the 7th day of Desain!

Unfortunately they have been able to acquire only 450. Embarrassment! Controversy! They promised!

Later in the week it was then learned that 150 of these goats died in a traffic accident on the east-west road leading into Kathmandu, so we're down to 300 now.

A sample of the local newspaper's Continuing Goat Coverage

BILLY BOY SELLS FOR Rs 17,000

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Billy+boy+sells+for+Rs+17%2C000&id=MzE3Njc=

TEHRATHUM:How much does a
billy-goat cost? It might be Rs 6,000, 8,000 generally…. and surely not above Rs 10,000. But a billy-goat's price and a lactating cow's worth is nearly equal in Terhathum district.
Khagendra Karki of Basantapur-6 sold his billy-goat that he reared at home for Rs 17,000. He says his goat's price is the highest in the entire district.
The goat, according to Karki, belonged to the Jamunapari species of goat. He sold the animal goat weighing 70 kg after it quit eating fodder due to too much fat. Karki took up goat-keeping when he returned from Malaysia.
"A goat paying off Rs 17,000? Would anyone want to go abroad if a small venture pays so much profit," he said.

NEPAL'S CAPITAL SUFFERS FESTIVAL GOAT SHORTAGE

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?catid=&subcatid=&NewsID=33629

KATHMANDU: With just days to go before Nepal's biggest religious festival of the year, the capital Kathmandu is suffering a severe shortage of goats for ritual sacrifice, the government said Tuesday.
As a result, the government food agency has ordered officials to travel to the countryside and buy up goats to be brought into the capital, where they will be sold for slaughter to mark the main Hindu festival of Dashain.
"Kathmandu city faces a shortage of goats during the festival, which always brings a high demand for goat meat," Bijaya Thapa, deputy general manager at the Nepal Food Corporation, told AFP.
"We are bringing goats in to ease the supply and to control dramatic price hikes."
Goats and other animals are traditionally slaughtered during the 15-day festival, which begins on September 19, to appease the Hindu goddess of power, Durga.
Officials have been tasked with persuading farmers to sell their livestock in rural areas, where the government has posted adverts calling on people to sell their goats.
Thapa said the price of the animals had risen by around 25 percent in the capital as the festival approached, and the government was hoping to bring in around 6,000 of them.
"Our staff have been mobilised across the country to search for goats to prepare for the festival," he said, adding that the government would sell them at below market rates.
"Around 240 goats have already reached Kathmandu and we are expecting more in the coming days."
The government organised a similar initiative last year, but failed to meet its target of 4,000 goats, bringing just 2,300 into the capital.

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Goat+sellers%E2%80%99+business+down+this+Dashain&NewsID=35971

GFC hits goat sacrificing trade!

GOAT SELLERS' BUSINESS DOWN THIS DASHAIN

KATHMANDU: Like previous years, Khadga Bahadur Shrestha, 38, a resident of Gajuri-1 in Dhading district, is once again here in the capital for about a week along with a pair of goats.
He desperately hopes to get lucky like last year and make a few thousands before heading back to his village to celebrate this Dashain. But as of Thursday, his sacrificial goats remained unsold, dampening his Dashain prospects.
It is not only Shrestha, but many other residents of adjoining districts of the Kathmandu Valley, who had come here to collect some amount to celebrate Dashain, have not been able to sell their castrated goats.
"It's been a decade I have been selling goats. However, this is the first time I am unable to sell a single goat," he revealed.
Such is the case of many other street goat sellers who can be spotted in Balkhu, Bhrikuti Mandap, Bagbazaar and New Bus Park areas.
"We're here for a couple of days waiting for the prospective goat buyers, but to no avail," said Jeet Bahadur Ghale, another farmer from Nuwakot district, who is seen along with Shrestha at Balkhu.
"It seems I should return empty handed," he said. According to him, people just come and ask the price and start bargaining with a huge margin.
"We take back our goats to home if they cannot be sold in appropriate rate," Ghale said. He has brought eight goats - among which four were purchased in the village and four were reared by himself.
"People out here offer just Rs 250 per kg of live goat while per kg of mutton in the market is above Rs 450," he lamented.
Consumer Nabin Puri, who was searching for a goat for about four hours in the market, said that the rate of the goat was increased this year. "Last year, the goats were being sold at the rate of Rs 190 per kg but Rs 300 has been fixed for the same this year," said Puri, an office staffer in the capital.
Raj Kumar Lama, 32, a seller stationed at Baghbazaar, said that they were forced to sell the goats at cheaper price than they purchased. Lama and his four friends had brought 37 goats, hoping that they would sell quickly as in previous years. "We're very disappointed this time. Not a single goat has been sold out yet," he said. "If I can't sell them by Saturday, I'll take the goats back home."
Lama said that they pay Rs 5 each goat to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City for keeping in the street. "During night time, we pay Rs 15 per goat to the school for providing room," he added.
Bhim Bahadur Bhale, 65, from Kampur in Dhading, said that they just sold five of 25 goats they brought in here. "If we're unable to sell them off now, then we'll come back here again in Tihar, the second biggest festival of Hindus."

KATHMANDUITES' GOAT THIS DASHAIN

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Kathmanduites'+goat+this+Dashain%3F&NewsID=34015

KATHMANDU: A few days ago, the government had made brave noises about procuring 6,000 goats from the districts outside the valley to cater to Kathmanduites' needs for the Dashain. State-owned food agency huffed and puffed with all its might but to little avail. Only three days are left for the festival fever to begin, and it has managed to bring home just 490 goats.
A week ago, the government had claimed that there would be
no dearth of animals for sacrificial offerings.
NFC officials say such a supply crisis had never occurred before.
NFC deputy general manager and information officer Bijaya Dhoj Thapa admitted that it would not be possible to meet the target of 6,000 goats before Ghatasthapana — the first day of the Dashain — which falls on September 19.
"We found that majority of the villagers were unwilling to sell their goats. They said they preferred sacrificing the goats themselves. Earlier, remittances made sure they could spare their livestock for sale, but not anymore," said Thapa, adding that it was a
Herculean task to find even 490 goats.
NFC has sent its officials to Dang, Nepalgunj and Lahan to procure goats. "We have to pool together the goats at any cost, otherwise the market will cash in on the shortage," said Thapa.
As per Hindu tradition, uncastrated goats and other animals are essential for sacrificial offerings to appease Durga Bhawani. According to NFC, it bought goats for Rs 160 to 166 per kg depending on their size.
NFC's Bagmati Zonal Office, which houses the goats for sale, said the goats would fetch around Rs 220 a kg. Unlike in the past, the Ministry of Commerce and Supply had announced it would not import herds of goats or flocks of sheep from Tibet this Dashain as the Tibetan authorities had put a price tag of around $100 (Rs 7,700) per goat, regardless of their weight.
The government's decision to go back to villages for goats after a five-year hiatus is also a reason for the scarcity.