By Chet Williamson

Of snouts and sties

Last week The Milford Daily News reported that a slaughtered pig was found in the bedroom of an apartment on South Bow Street in Milford. Police were called to the address after responding to a noise complaint by people living on the first floor about the tenants on the second floor who were playing loud music at 1 o'clock in the morning. After the pig was discovered, police called the Board of Health and, according to police reports, officers observed "unhealthy" conditions in the home, stating that one bedroom was being used as a "slaughterhouse for pigs.''

The following day, police called the Board of Health to inspect the apartment. Public Health Director Paul Mazzuchelli reported that he suspected that the apartment was being used as some kind of jerry-rigged rooming house. "I have some concerns with that house,'' he said, also noting that there appeared to be sectioned areas in the basement of the house. He added that he wanted to take a closer look at the property. Inspecting the second floor, Mazzuchelli said that he noticed several individually locked rooms within the apartment. Upon further search, he discovered a butchered pig in a bedroom off the kitchen, a bloody carcass on one table and the head in a bowl on another table.

"I've never seen anything like that inside a house," Mazzuchelli said. "You usually see an illegal slaughterhouse in a barn or cellar, not in a house." Police say that no citations have been issued at this time. Mazzuchelli, however, said he plans to continue to investigate the incident with the assistance of Anthony DeLuca, the town's building commissioner, and discuss the illegal rooming conversions with Jose Afonso, the owner of the property. In describing the house, Mazzuchelli said the place was "unkempt," but not so bad that it was dangerous. o

All information taken from public records, published reports and court proceedings. Comments? E-mail Chet Williamson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it