I decided to to visit one of the local butcher shops in town and perhaps video tape how the fowl is slaughtered. I was three hours too late for the day. When I told the owner (Ariel) that I wanted to observe how he slaughtered the chicken, a lady next to me said in mockery and surprise, "oye ahora!" (check this out!). She thought that I was being rude or something by asking how the fowl was killed. I then approached the owner and told him that I was an anthropologist from the USA and was studying the customs and traditions of Bani, and that it was important for me to video tape the process of slaughtering. He then invited me to return early in the morning. I seized the opportunity to ask him how the chicken was slaughtered. He said, "we slice the neck." I then asked him which family he was from. He said, "Ortiz." I continued, "Ortiz what?" He replied, "Ortiz Andújar." Andújar is not on my list of surnames, but Ortiz is. He added that many students came to him investigating the same thing. Then he gave me directions on how to get to the Mercado, where I could probably catch people in the slaughtering process.

I followed his instructions and ran into a very busy street with shops and food establishments. I noticed the butcher shop "El Rincón del Pollo" and another one across the street, two shops away. After having identified myself as an investigator from the USA, I decided to ask the owner of the other shop if I could video tape them in the slaughtering process. He told me to come back tomorrow between 7-8 am. I quickly asked him how he slaughtered the chicken. He said, "I cut under the neck with a knife."

Next, I approached "El Rincón del Pollo" butcher shop and saw a young kid packing the chicken for the customers. I quickly asked him, "how do you guys kill the chicken here?" He made the slicing-of-the-neck hand gesture. I thanked him and left.

After asking random people about this custom of slaughtering in Baní, I can conclude that the majority of the fowl sold here is slaughtered through the slicing of the neck and that people prefer buying their meat there.

Stay tuned...