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fter a week of examining animals that will be slaughtered on the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, Idul Adha, the Jakarta administration says that all the animals in the city are healthy.

The Jakarta Maritime and Agriculture Agency chief Ipih Ruyani said that officials from the agency had examined animals brought to the capital for the holiday.

“Apart from performing physical examinations, we also took blood samples from the animals. The samples showed that they were all free from anthrax,” Ipih said on Friday.

She added, however, that there were a number of goats and cows not old enough for the ritual.

In East Jakarta, for instance, there were 36 cows, 58 goats and one buffalo that were considered too young to be slaughtered.

According to the agency data, as of Wednesday, 62,801 animals had been brought to Jakarta, comprising 10,796 cows, 964 buffaloes, 47,618 goats and 3,450 sheep.

The agency has also recorded 964 animal shelters in the city.

Ipih said that the agency would continue monitoring the animals until the day was celebrated on Nov. 6.

“To date, we have continued with the examinations. We will also perform inspections at slaughter spots,” she said.

The agency dispatched 750 inspectors to check the health of the sacrificial animals a week before the holiday. Their primary task is to prevent sick livestock from entering the capital.

The inspectors comprised 300 people from Bogor Agriculture University (IPB), 25 from the Association of Indonesian Veterinarians and the rest coming from the agency.

Owners of animals slaughtered for Idul Adha are required to be certified by the Animal Husbandry Agency from their places of origin and by the Jakarta Maritime and Agriculture Agency.

Animals that were examined and met the city’s standard were marked with official tags from the agency. Healthy criteria includes proper weight and age, and no physical defects. The agency called on citizens to carefully pick which animal they would sacrifice.

Prices for goats and lambs are expected to be between Rp 1 million and Rp 2.5 million (US$282.50) apiece, while prices for cows and buffaloes are between Rp 30,000 and Rp 35,000 per kilogram. Normal prices for cows and buffaloes are around Rp 26,000 per kilogram.

The Indonesian Cow and Buffalo Breeders Association (PPSKI) said that there would be sufficient cows for Idul Adha.

The association said that several provinces including East Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta were prepared to meet the Idul Adha demand.

Demand during Idul Adha normally increases by 2 to 3 percent from the regular daily demand of between 1,000 and 1,200 live cows. In line with higher demand, prices can increase by as much as 10 percent.

To maintain price stability, Agriculture Ministry Director General for Animal Husbandry Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso also called on cow breeders not to excessively increase prices.

— JP/Andreas D. Arditya