Fatwa cautions on dealers selling sick and underweight sacrificial animals

Muslims heading out to buy animals to sacrifice on Eid Al-Adha should be wary of unscrupulous dealers selling them sick and underweight livestock.
A fatwa, or religious edict, issued by the Kingdom's General Presidency of Religious Research and Ifta states that a sacrificial animal should not be ill, blind, visibly lame and emaciated. There are also specific conditions regarding the minimum age of the animal. A camel should be at least five years old, a cow two years, a goat one year and a sheep six months.
The visible defects of an animal include the loss of a considerable part of its horn or ear. The ideal animal should have all its body parts intact.
Seven people can share a camel or cow, but a goat cannot be shared. People can sacrifice a sheep for their entire family. People can also entrust others to sacrifice an animal in their own country or in a foreign country. It is a sunnah, or recommended, for people offering the sacrifice to eat from the meat and distribute the rest as charity.
A veterinarian, Othman Muhammad, said buyers should check if the two front teeth of their animals are bigger than the other teeth, and ensure the ages are in line with the fatwa.
The buyer should also ensure that the animal eats and moves about in a healthy manner, does not suffer from vomiting or have a runny nose, its eyes are normal, its body fat and has no skin diseases.
Muhammad said some traders cheat customers by feeding an animal with lots of salt so that it drinks a great deal of water and appears fat. The telltale signs of cheating include the animal having red and teary eyes, disproportionately large belly and loose bowel movement caused by eating too much salt.
If a person buys an animal a few days in advance, he or she can fatten it by feeding it with special food, he said.