Halal slaughterhouse mere feet from Ellis County line

JOEY G. DAUBEN

The Ellis County Press

NAVARRO COUNTY – A slaughterhouse rejected by Ellis County commissioners in November will go south into Navarro County.

Commissioners and county officials in Navarro County are also opposed to the halal slaughterhouse, which is drawn out to include an Islamic prayer room. Halal is the Muslim equivalent of Biblical kosher laws.

A state permit that would allow for up to 10,000 animals to be slaughtered per day was received by Shamsul Ahmed, who owns the property on Slama Road in Ellis County, which is south of Lake Bardwell.

After Ellis County rejected the plant on the grounds that too much truck traffic would ruin roads and lower property values, Ahmed scaled back the plans.

A private road extending from Slama Road would be constructed to the proposed plant that is about 200 feet of the Ellis County line.