A halal butcher shop in Bloomfield that was at the center of the controversial public slaughter of a cow was targeted by vandals who sprayed an anti-Muslim message on the side of the building.
Police said Wednesday that they were dispatched to 52 Granby St. to take a complaint of vandalism.
Saba Live Poultry is located at 52 Granby St. Halal butcher shops like Saba slaughters animals using knives in accordance with Islamic dietary laws, according to NBC News.
An NBC Connecticut viewer sent in a photo Wednesday morning that shows the words “Cease With The Needless Slaughter” and “Muslims Go Home” painted on the building.
A former Saba employee is accused of publicly slaughtering a cow in the parking lot of a Bloomfield Home Depot on July 13 after it got loose from the butcher shop across the street.
“We abhore the hate calls and grafitti that have been recieved by Saba Live Poultry in Bloomfield. We are better as a Nation because of our diverse backgrounds and heritage. Whoever thinks that bigotry is acceptable should question their own allegence to our Great Nation.” Tark Richard Aouadi, executive director of CAIR Connecticut, the Connecticut Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.
State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) released a statement Thursday in response to the reports.
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“No matter the circumstances,” Anwar said, “hate speech should not be acceptable in any form.”
The butcher shop was closed soon after the cow incident when the town of Bloomfield determined Saba was making renovations without a permit and the state Department of Agriculture then issued a cease and desist order for the butcher shop.
A man who identified himself as the store’s manager previously told NBC Connecticut Investigates that he understands the extra scrutiny but said the runaway cow did pose a danger to drivers on the busy road the business sits on, and it needed to be corralled, just not by slitting its throat.
Saba will be allowed to reopen after fixing of deficiencies.
