Homemade Slaughterhouse exposed by Star investigation

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http://www.torontostar.com/

 

2001. 07:17 AM

Meat sales probe brings five charges

Slaughterhouse exposed by Star investigation

Robert Cribb and Dale Brazao

STAFF REPORTERS

 

 

CHARLIE PERSI: `I don't sell meat here,' he said in November. `It's just for

myself.'

 

The operator of a clandestine slaughterhouse that produced thousands of pounds

of meat each year in filthy conditions has been charged by provincial

authorities.

 

Charlie Persi, who ran a makeshift abattoir out of a dilapidated Vaughan

farmhouse, faces five charges under the provincial Meat Inspection Act: two

counts of operating a plant without a licence, two counts of unlawful slaughter

of animals without proper inspection and one count of selling uninspected meat.

 

Persi is scheduled to appear in Newmarket court to face the charges on Feb. 6.

 

``The charges are a result of an investigation, but that's all I can say at this

point,'' said Mike Morencie, head of investigations for the Ministry of Natural

Resources which handles investigations for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and

Rural Affairs.

 

The ministry began its probe of Persi's operation following the publication of a

Toronto Star undercover investigation last month. The Star began surveillance of

the farm, just off Bathurst St. north of Major Mackenzie Dr., after Persi denied

running an illegal slaughterhouse.

 

By law, every piece of meat sold in Ontario must be slaughtered in a licensed

abattoir where government officials inspect the animals to ensure they are free

of disease and handled safely to avoid contamination.

 

``I don't sell meat here. It's just for myself,'' Persi told a reporter in

November.

 

 

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`I was shocked to read about it. I thought he was simply raising the animals to

sell them. I don't think anyone around here knew what was going on. I'm relieved

to hear they shut him down.'- Woman at nearby farm

 

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..

 

Over the next three weeks, The Star made two undercover purchases of freshly

slaughtered meat from Persi.

 

The second purchase - a lamb which cost $150 - was captured on hidden videotape.

 

The tape reveals the primitive conditions inside a gutted farmhouse where Persi

operated.

 

He lifted the animal into a V-shaped plywood trough in one corner of the dimly

lit room - a red-stained death bed for the sheep and goats that grazed outside

the house.

 

The video reveals blood from slaughtered animals spattered across the room,

which has no refrigeration or running water. Persi is not wearing gloves and

does not wash his bloody hands between slaughterings.

 

On the videotape, Persi boasts he kills up to 200 goats and sheep a week during

his peak summer business.

 

``I tell you, I got over 200,'' he tells an undercover reporter. ``Sometimes

they gotta line up.''

 

There are no inspectors present.

 

In fact, provincial authorities had never visited the abattoir prior to The

Star's investigation.

 

And the public has no idea where Persi's meat was going.

 

Health officials know that illegal meat - in the thousands of kilograms - is

sold in restaurants and small grocery stores across Greater Toronto.

 

Eleven retail stores in Toronto have been convicted for selling uninspected meat

since 1997 - a figure believed to represent a tiny percentage of the underground

trade because municipal inspectors have little chance of identifying illegal

meat in stores.

 

But following the investigation by The Star, the province decided to beef up

efforts to stop the meat from getting to the retail level in the first place.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has hired two new compliance

officers to monitor illegal activity, advise on regulations and help educate

farmers about the dangers of uninspected meat, said Jim Cushing, enforcement

co-ordinator for the ministry.

 

Next week, the ministry will add an investigator to the four who now target

illegal meat production in Ontario, he said.

 

Yesterday, Persi's farm appeared abandoned. No animals were in outdoor pens. And

about a dozen propane tanks used by customers to burn the hair off freshly

killed animals were at Persi's home in Richmond Hill.

 

A neighbour at a nearby farm said she was unaware of Persi's operation.

 

``I was shocked to read about it,'' said the woman, who asked not be identified.

``I thought he was simply raising the animals to sell them. I don't think anyone

around here knew what was going on. I'm relieved to hear they shut him down.''

 

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Video of this story;

 

http://torontostartv.com/cgi-bin/play/slaughterhouse?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTe\

nseContentServer=fd6b9e77035fc24c

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