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Chicken Slaughterhouse Shut Down By Health Inspectors in West Town

By Alisa Hauser | October 31, 2016 9:54am
 Pollos Vivos at 1636 W. Chicago Ave. was shut down by the city's Dept. of Health on Oct. 28, 2016.
Pollos Vivos at 1636 W. Chicago Ave. was shut down by the city's Dept. of Health on Oct. 28, 2016.
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Peter Gariepy

WEST TOWN — A popular chicken slaughterhouse that has been in business for almost 65 years was shut down by city health inspectors last week in West Town.

Pollos Vivos at 1636 W. Chicago Ave. had its license suspended by the Dept. of Public Health on Oct. 28, according to a sticker on its front door.

Owner Fayyad Abdallah said on Monday that he is working on reopening as soon as possible and in the meantime, he's encouraging customers to visit Western Live Poultry, another market he owns at 2003 S. Western Ave.

"People were standing outside asking for the chickens. They want chicken," Abdallah said of the shut down's impact on his business over this past weekend.

 

 

Abdallah said the market serves mainly Hispanic families in the West Town area. Pollos Vivos gets its live chickens from an Amish farm in Indiana.

The City Dept. of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the license suspension, however Abdallah said it was related to lack of hot water in the building's basement.

"Our water broke down. We fixed it," he said.

Previously the slaughterhouse, which operates under the business license name "Alliance Poultry Farm MKT Inc.," failed an inspection on Aug. 22, 2014 and passed seven days later after a re-inspection, city records show. 

In 2014, the slaughterhouse was cited for not having a proper hand sink, which was leaking water onto the floor, and for not having evidence of rodent or insect protection. City inspectors reported seeing "several flying insects" and staff not wearing hair restraints or clean aprons, along with cracked display cases, stained ceiling tiles and an "offensive odor," records show.

The market was started in 1953 by a man named Frank who sold the business to Abdallah's father in 1983, Fayyad Abdallah said.

Pollos Vivos, 1636 W. Chicago Ave. [Courtesy of Peter Gariepy]

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