Baldwin Borough considers ordinance over publicly slaughtering animals

Baldwin Borough leaders are considering new rules that would require residents who are sacrificing animals for religious purposes to do so out of the view of the public.

The amended ordinance, which is working its way through borough council, would address an issue that sprung up in Baldwin last year, when borough leaders received multiple complaints that residents had slaughtered animals in view of the public as part of a religious ceremony.

“One was in a garage area where there was a double car garage. A goat was slaughtered in the garage in plain sight in daylight. The same thing happened in the backyard, as well,” borough Manager Bob Firek told borough council members on Jan. 14, as he recapped the need for the ordinance. “So, this ordinance would curtail that from open areas, it would have to be done indoors.”

“It’s not a normal behavior, but it’s something that could happen again,” police Chief Tony Cortazzo said.

The slaughtering occurred during a religious holiday that is celebrated by some of Baldwin’s Bhutanese residents, Firek said.

After passing an ordinance outlining restrictions for the keeping of chickens in September, Baldwin council members have spent the last several months discussing ways to amend that ordinance to add restrictions for the owning of hoofed animals and the slaughtering of animals in the borough.

That discussion has ranged from: should restrictions be placed on the keeping of bees to how much acreage should be required to own hoofed animals in a residential neighborhood.

Baldwin leaders say they have had issues with a pig running throughout the community, where police have had to chase it down.

Firek said most parcels in the borough are half an acre or less.

Council members on Jan. 14 discussed what acreage should be required for residents to own hoofed animals.

The borough currently does not have rules for this.

“I don’t want my next-door neighbor turning his yard into a farm. That’s just me,” council Vice President John Egger said.

Others agreed.

“We need some kind of parameters for the hoofed animals that’s reasonable,” councilwoman Denise Maiden said.

Councilman Francis Scott said he doesn’t think any of it should be allowed.

“This is a residential community,” Scott said. “You’re asking for trouble and you’re going to have enforcement issues all over the place.”

Solicitor Ashley Wagner said she will review ordinances in other communities to see how much acreage they require for hoofed animals.

“It’s really en vogue right now to pass an ordinance like this,” she said. “Everyone is doing it and even those that aren’t, people are coming to the meetings and saying, ‘Hey, such and such community has this. We want this.’ Certainly, people are paying attention to these types of ordinances and urban agriculture.”

While borough leaders discuss the acreage and what to allow in the borough in terms of animals and bees, Firek and Cortazzo have asked council members to include the portion regarding slaughtering.

The ordinance would not ban the slaughtering from occurring in a humane way, based on rules outlined in the Pennsylvania Agriculture Code, but it would keep it out of the eyes of the public.

Borough leaders are not allowed to ban religious practices.

“We’re just looking to place some restrictions on it. It was very upsetting for some of the other residents in the area,” Cortazzo said.

Borough leaders have been meeting with leaders from the Bhutanese community and will work with them on education, Firek said.

“They like to be good neighbors,” he said.