The Eid al-Adha festival is known as an opportunity for second chances, but this year, the animals are the ones reaping the benefits.
In Makkah, Saudi Arabia, one sheep that felt a knife on its throat jumped off a building to escape, but, luckily, was caught by its horns in a power cable.
The owners recovered the sheep a moment later, Emirates24/7 reported. It is unknown whether the animal escaped sacrifice.
The incident happened Oct. 26 in Algeria as part of Eid al-Adha, known to Muslims as the "Festival of Sacrifice."
As part of the festival, owners who can afford it slaughter a cow, goat, sheep or camel. They keep a portion to feed themselves and distribute the rest to friends, family and the needy.
It seems this year, the animals are fighting back. A ram in Annaba, Algeria, was singled out to be sacrificed in a religious ceremony, but then turned around and head-butted its owner to death.
The ram's owner had come home just after performing some prayers at dawn. When the man picked up a large knife and began getting the ram ready for sacrifice, the animal butted him so hard that he "fell on the ground and died minutes later," according to Emirates 24/7's translation of Algerian newspaper Khabar.
Meanwhile, a 52-year-old man in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, was trampled to death by a cow he was preparing to slaughter. The cow got spooked, ran wild and killed its owner and injured three other people before being captured, Digital Journal reported.
The animal attacks were so prevalent this year that one government official warned people to leave animal sacrifices in the hands of seasoned professionals.
Ibrahim Al Kidra, a deputy minister of agriculture in the Gaza Strip, told the Telegraph: “We ask people to use official areas and allow professionals to make their sacrifices, but as this costs $150, most people try to kill the animals at home, despite the dangers.”
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