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The Omaha City Council has cleared the way for a new South Omaha business offering customers the chance to select their dinner while it’s still breathing.

Tuesday, the council voted 5-1 to approve a special use permit for Tom’s Live Market, which will be located at 2630 N St. Tom Meyer, the business’s owner, plans to offer processing of goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits and small cattle. People will be able to pick animals that will be housed in pens and then wait while the animals are slaughtered, processed and packaged.

Meyer said the concept is new to Omaha but familiar in other cities around the country and around the world.

“It’s just a way for different people with different needs to find their protein,” he told the council. “I have always been a farmer, an ag guy, and I always wanted to see what I’m eating, to see the process.”

A handful of people who spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing said they were concerned about food safety, animal rights and, in one case, the prospect of animal slaughter encouraging satanic worship among children.