A bloody day in Kabul

The "gutters" of Kabul (yes, that narrow dirt ditch you see above is a gutter) ran red with blood today, as families across Kabul slaughtered sheep and other cattle for Eid al-Adha -- the festival of sacrifice.

The pile of blankets next to this bloody streamlet is a sleeping homeless man. He's also in the first photo above, the little hovel in the shadows by the pillar on the right.

Here I nearly stumbled into torrents of blood. The source...

... was a big cow that was still kicking when I walked through the door to have a peek. This was obviously the home of a man with money because not only did he buy a fat cow, instead of a cheaper sheep, but also because he also owned a phat Lexus SUV.

Furthermore, he had two more sheep waiting in the yard.

But the butcher was just starting on the still kicking cow. Families will buy their cattle live, keep them in the yard for a day or two, and then hire a butcher to come over with all his equipment for the halal slaughter.

Now back to part two of dog vs. sheep -- oh, poor sheep. (See dog in background.)