Man Charged for Selling Slaughtered Pig from Home

An ‘entrepreneurial’ man in California finds himself in a bind after being charged with five counts of violating the state’s Food and Agriculture Code as allegations surface that the man was illegally slaughtering pigs and selling the meat from his home, according to PigProgress.net.

Artxezin “Art” Mariscal Amezcua, a 62-year-old retired teacher is charged with running an unlicensed operation, operating an unclean and unsanitary establishment and conducting the operation without a California Department of Food and Agriculture permit. Amezcua is accused of slaughtering and preparing livestock at his San Luis Obispo County home without the necessary documentation according to PigProgress.net.

For nearly thirty years Amezcua taught government at Santa Maria High School before retiring at the end of the 2011 school year.

Almost 50 pigs were killed each month at the site called Rancho Sestero de las Aves, where at times carcasses were left to rot outside for days reports PigProgress.net.

Food and Agriculture’s senior special investigator Rhett Dunn discovered numerous health and safety violations. Rodents, flies, livestock excrement and urine, blood, and stagnant water were noted in the report and chopping blocks, knives and meat saws appeared to have not been sanitized in “years” according to the Huffington Post.

Amezcua pleaded not guilty to the charges but explained in an interview with the Huffington Post that he has a verbal agreement with the District Attorney’s office that if he receives licensing by July 31, the charges will be dropped.

Sean Flynn is a Junior Writer for The Daily Meal. Follow him on Twitter @BuffaloFlynn
 

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