Earlier
today, counsel for Chilliwack Cattle Sales, one of the company’s owners, and three
of its employees stated in court that they would plead guilty to charges of
animal cruelty at the next hearing on December 15.
These prosecutions follow a
Mercy For Animals undercover investigation revealing dairy workers viciously kicking,
punching, and beating animals with chains, metal pipes, canes, and rakes; sick
and injured cows suffering from oozing infections and gruesome injuries; and
workers gleefully poking and squeezing festering wounds, ripping clumps of hair
out of cows’ sensitive tails, and punching bulls in the testicles.
Chilliwack
Cattle Sales, Canada’s largest dairy factory farm, and one of its owners
intend to plead guilty of violating the BC Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act. Three workers intend to do the same. Although the terms of sentencing
have not been announced, MFA urges the Chilliwack Law Court to sentence these
animal abusers to the fullest extent of the law.
Watch
the undercover footage leading to these guilty pleas here:
The
investigation prompted Norm Letnick, British Columbia’s agricultural minister, to
amend the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to incorporate the Dairy Code
of Practice. The Dairy Code of Practice outlines minimum guidelines concerning
the treatment and welfare of cows on Canada’s dairy farms.
According to reports
obtained through freedom of information requests, the BC Milk Marketing Board
recently found that more than 25 percent of British Columbian dairy farms
failed to comply with the provincial code of practice for animal welfare over
an 18-month period. Inspection reports showed serious issues, including overcrowding, lame or soiled cattle, tails accidentally torn
off by machinery, branding and dehorning of calves without pain
medication, cows lying on concrete, and failure to
produce a manual outlining management practices on individual farms.
This
case graphically illustrates the horrific cruelty and extreme neglect that cows
suffer on Canada’s factory dairy farms. The dairy industry has proven that it
is incapable of self-regulation. MFA is calling on all provinces, including British
Columbia, to give the Dairy Code of Practice the force of law in their
provincial animal cruelty legislation. Giving the code the force of law will make
these important animal welfare guidelines requirements and help ensure that
cows receive a basic level of care and humane handling.
Although
these prosecutions are a step in the right direction, the best way to prevent
the needless suffering of cows and all farmed animals is to choose healthy and
humane alternatives to meat, eggs, and dairy products.
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