Authorities across Indonesia are tightening livestock trade and animal health checks ahead of next week’s Eid Al Adha, with this year’s holiday expected to fall on May 27 and about 2.3 million animals projected to be slaughtered nationwide.
In Pekanbaru, veterinary officers from the city’s Agriculture and Fisheries Agency have been sent to farms and temporary animal markets to inspect animals for the holiday, said Maisisco, who said the team checks body shape and size, legs, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth and appetite. The aim, he said, is to make sure the animals are free from zoonotic disease, healthy, without physical defects and fit to be used as sacrificial animals under Islamic law.
Pekanbaru authorities had inspected 3,754 sacrificial animals by Wednesday, and no signs of disease were found among the livestock examined. Inspections and monitoring in the city will continue throughout the Eid Al Adha slaughtering period, as officials move to keep the supply safe for buyers who will begin purchasing animals in larger numbers as the holiday approaches.
That pressure is being felt beyond Pekanbaru. Idul Adha is one of the main Muslim festivals of sacrifice, and demand for livestock rises sharply in the days before it. The Indonesian Agriculture Ministry has projected that around 2.3 million animals will be slaughtered nationwide this year, turning animal health checks into a nationwide task rather than a local precaution.
Riau remains a particular concern because of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock. Mimi Yuliani Nazir, head of the Riau Livestock and Animal Health Agency, said tighter supervision is needed to ensure animals sold to the public are healthy and free from infectious disease. She said the monitoring is also intended to curb the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the province, where 758 livestock animals had contracted the illness as of mid-May 2026 and 532 had recovered after intensive treatment and monitoring.
Pekanbaru is not alone in stepping up inspections. In Pekalongan, authorities have deployed monitoring teams made up of veterinarians, medical personnel and veterinary paramedics, after concluding that the city’s livestock supply is still insufficient and that many sacrificial animals are brought in from other regions.
Lili said on Monday that teams are carrying out direct inspections at animal trading sites to make sure livestock entering the city are healthy and free from disease. The checks are part of the same pre-holiday push seen elsewhere in Indonesia, where buyers want assurance that the animals they bring home are safe to slaughter and meet the requirements of the religious ritual.
The wider effort now comes down to one simple test: whether the country’s market system can move millions of animals into the holiday without moving disease with them. For farmers, traders and families preparing for Eid Al Adha, that answer will matter before the first animal is sold.
