The city of Meriden has decided that slaughtering farm animals is something that should be left to butcher shops and residents should not be doing this on their own properties.
But the resident at the center of the butchering ban plans to appeal – all the way to federal court if necessary because he feels the ban infringes of his religious freedoms, the Meriden Record-Journal reports.
Austine Christopher Ubaike, a Nigerian native, told the newspaper he's been singled out because he slaughters two goats per week and, on holidays, he might also butcher a cow and buffalo.
But neighbors complained to city officials about health concerns and the Meriden City Council on Monday voted, 11-0, to amend the city's health code to ban the slaughter of farm animals.
It’s customary, Ubaike told the Record Journal, to prepare fresh, unprocessed meat for his family and the ban infringes on his cultural and religious freedoms.
Ubaike said he would take the decision to federal court if necessary.
In the meantime, he said he'll raise mountain goats in an effort to skirt the ban on farm animal slaughter.
