Tewksbury Board Of Health To Discuss Slaughterhouse Thursday

TEWKSBURY, MA —Tewksbury's board of health will continue a hearing Thursday evening on whether to modify, suspend or revoke Oliveira Farm's keeping of animals permit. The hearing was opened last week, shortly after the slaughterhouse's owner, Dinis Oliveira, and an employee were charged with cruelty to animals. According to the police report, two men reported seeing Oliveira tie chains around the neck and hind legs of a cow and pull it apart using a bobcat, until it was decapitated.

Oliveira, 77, and his employee Francisco "Freddy" Manjivar, 31, were both arraigned in Lowell District Court on Nov. 4. Both were released awaiting trial, and a pre-trial hearing has been set for Dec. 19. Oliveira Farm has a state slaughterhouse license as well as a town permit to keep animals.

According to the police report, two men who were delivering propane to the slaughterhouse witnessed a live cow pulled apart. They told a co-worker, who reported the incident. Both men were later interviewed by police officers.

In a statement to the board of health, Oliveira's lawyer Donald Borenstein wrote, "Although the written statement and reports provided to me by [Health Director Susan] Sawyer, are in parts, gruesome, a close inspection of the alleged facts and details specified in those documents shows them to be highly implausible or impossible."

Borenstein went on to argue that the allegations are "highly out of character" with Oliveira and his work on the farm, noting his client's military service as a field medic.

"He has operated the Oliveria Farm for approximately 45 years, where he cares for his livestock in a professional and compassionate manner," Borenstein wrote. "It is my understanding that he is routinely subject to both state and local inspections and that he has been operating in compliance with all rules, regulations, and pursuant to appropriate permits and licenses."

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.