Butcher defends making Jeffrey Dahmer joke to sell meat

A Welsh butcher has defended making a questionable joke about serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer in order to sell meat.

Ponty Butchers in Pontardawe, Swansea, received some backlash after joking about the Milwaukee murderer, who was recently the centre of a Netflix drama and docu-series, whilst flogging some of the meat they were selling.

The butchers made the gag in a Facebook post which was subsequently removed, but several people criticised them for making light of the fact the criminal murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

The Jeffrey Dahmer gag didn’t land with everyone (Credit: Facebook)

The butcher had posted a screenshot of actor Evan Peters, who played Dahmer in the Netflix series, alongside some snaps of his meat, writing: “These still available…. A deal so good it would make Jeffrey Dahmer empty his freezer!”

Before it was deleted from Facebook, the post racked up hundreds of likes and comments, but several people said the joke was insensitive and ill-judged.

The post was also shared on Twitter, where it still remains.

“Dude, this is not funny,” said one.

Whilst another sarcastically wrote: “So funny…”, before sharing a collage of the murderer’s victims.

Jeffrey Dahmer brutally killed 17 men and boys (Credit: Alamy)

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, owner Gareth Lewis, said: “I didn’t even intend to get a reaction, it was just for people to notice the post, it’s all tongue in cheek, I don’t want to upset anybody.

“A few people have said you shouldn’t be profiting off a serial killer or whatever but they don’t have an issue with Netlflix doing the exact same thing.

“Most people found it funny and that’s all it’s intended to be. There were a handful of negative comments but obviously most people understood it’s just a joke. The ones who complain are never locals or customers so I’m not bothered.

“I use whatever is topical at the time for advertising and it works because people come in and say they have seen us online all the time.”