Pizzeria: Deer butchering misunderstanding

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Officials in Allentown, Pa., said a city health inspector found a bagged deer that had been butchered at a pizzeria in the city.

Allentown city spokesman Michael Moore, a patron at Stromboli Pizza, contacted the city health department and said a deer was being butchered in the eatery's kitchen, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported Thursday.

Stromboli Pizza manager John Okumus said the incident was the result of a misunderstanding after he shot two deer while hunting. He said he promised one of the deer to a friend and left the carcass wrapped in plastic in a back area of the pizza shop's kitchen.

Okmus, who had the day off from work at the time of the incident Thursday, said his friend was supposed to have picked up the carcass on his way home from work, but one of the restaurant's cooks mistakenly believed the deer was there to be butchered. He said the cook was spotted butchering the deer by a girl who looked into the kitchen through an open door.

"The health department did their job, a good job," Okumus said. "There are bad people out there. But, the deer was not to sell."

The health department report confirmed the deer was never meant for public consumption. The pizzeria was not cited.