The floods affected more than a million people, notably in Punjab and Sindh provinces, where tens of thousands of families were forced out of their homes. Those areas are also major hubs for cattle production. And the destruction has resulted in a booming black market, according to Pakistan Today . Reports suggest that middlemen are deliberately holding onto livestock in order to drive prices up. Some they say are even selling animals to neighbouring Afghanistan. One way people are coping is through "collective sacrifices", whereby several people chip in to buy one animal that they offer up together, it seems.