painted goats

[r.l.schmidt at easteur-orient.uio.no]

>Can somebody provide me with more information and/or reference on the
>custom of painting the goat's fur before sacrifice? It seems to be use
>in Nepal, and somewhere else??
>For an example view http://www.webart.com/asianart/mustang/goats.html

In the mountains of northern Pakistan, such goats have a patch of pink dye
on them. I asked why it was done and was told only that it identified the
goats to be sacrificed.

Of course, if it has non-Islamic connotations, people might not know about
them, or might not feel like discussing them.

Ruth Schmidt