Despite the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1890) being in place, animal abuse is still rampant in Pakistan. In a video that has gone viral on social media, a cow can be seen being lifted from the rooftop of a highrise building by a crane.
According to Reuters, the cow which is seen lowered 40 feet to the ground using a crane belongs to one Syed Ejaz Ahmad. Ahmed, as per the media outlet, rears cows in his rooftop bran and every year, ahead of Eid-al-Adha, he uses cranes to lower the helpless bovine and sells them for Qurbani.
Syed Ejaz Ahmad raises cattle in a rooftop barn and every year for the festival of Eid al-Adha he lowers them 40 feet to the ground using a crane before they are sacrificed for their meat pic.twitter.com/gTVoymkOeL
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 4, 2022
In the video shared by Reuters, the cow is seen cruelly restrained to the crane’s hoist rope as it is being lowered from a building’s rooftop in Karachi, Pakistan. Syed Ejaz Ahmad is heard saying how he makes the animals climb the staircase when they are young. He then rears the cows in his shed on the rooftop. When they grow up, they are lifted through a crane and taken from slaughter ahead of the festive occasion.
According to the media outlet, Ahmad has been carrying out this practice for the last 18 years.
Animal cruelty in the name of ‘enjoyment’: The tradition of crane-lifting cows continues in Pakistan
At the location, one can see a lot of children and adults gathered. A resident named Mohammad Hanzala told the media that this is an annual affair in the area. “It is fun to watch the animals being lowered, it’s a different kind of enjoyment. Last year I came to watch with my friends but this time I have come alone, said Mohammad Hanzala, as he excitedly watched the helpless bovine being hauled off a building by a crane.
According to Mohammad Hanzala, only two cows were lowered this year as opposed to five or six in previous years.
When the animal is brought down in such a manner, it not only feels terrified because of the height, but people surrounding it and making noise also tend to stress the animal out. Regardless, for years, ahead of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha, the Pakistanis have been engaging in this egregious act of animal abuse in the name of ‘traditions’ and ‘rituals’.
In the year 2020, before the Islamic festival, a video had gone viral wherein a cow being lifted through a crane lost its balance and fell to its own death as people around stood and watched. The video was reportedly from Karachi, Pakistan. However, it could not be independently verified.
My heart is crying after watching this video.
— Pak Hindus (@PakHindus) August 1, 2020
Sick cruel people! #Cruelty #Karachi #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/WDFSu1NqY0
This act of cruelty is being carried out in Pakistan for years. Each year, before Eid-al-Adha, similar videos have surfaced on various social media platforms, wherein where cows are being lifted with cranes from the top of houses to be taken for slaughter.
According to reports, those who cannot afford goats for sacrifice for Eid rear animals like cows on the second and third floors of their houses in Karachi. On the day of Qurbani, these cows are brought down through a crane. Each cow is reportedly sold for Rs 5 lakh. Apparently, they get them as calves and rear them for a long time by feeding and taking care of them to be sold ahead of Eid for Qurbani.
