Per ctv
The B.C. SPCA has recommended animal cruelty charges against eight employees of a Chilliwack dairy farm after they were caught on hidden camera allegedly abusing cattle.
The employees were suspended Friday after the allegations surfaced. On Monday night, all eight were fired from Chilliwack Cattle Sales, Canada's largest dairy farm.
“We were going to wait until the investigation, but upon seeing some of the video ... It’s graphic,” said owner Jeff Kooyman. “We made the decision they need to be dismissed.”
The video, shot by a former employee, shows disturbing footage of employees brutally beating, kicking and punching dairy cows using rakes, chains, and their booted feet and fists. One employee can be seen repeatedly whipping a cow with a cane. Some animals can be seen with open wounds on their legs.
The SPCA received the video last week from animal rights group Mercy for Animals Canada.
“Horrifying would be an understatement,” said the SPCA’s Marcie Moriarty about the footage. “Nothing could have prepared me for this.”
SPCA constables and a veterinarian went to the Prairie Central Road farm on Friday to investigate.
The SPCA is recommending Criminal Code charges against eight employees identified in the video for wilfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering and injury to animals. Charges have not yet been approved by Crown.
There is also an open investigation into the company’s practices and treatment of its animals, said Moriarty. The Kooyman family has been co-operating.
Kooyman, one of seven brothers who own the company, said the family is in shock about the allegations, which they only learned about Friday when SPCA investigators came knocking.
“We’re devastated and deeply saddened at some of our animals being harmed in that way,” said Kooyman. “This is not what we are about at all.”
Kooyman said he and other family members visit the farm regularly and had not noticed anything wrong. The eight employees work the same shift, he said. Some have been with the company for up to three years.
The Kooymans plan to install surveillance cameras on the premises to ensure animal safety. It will also establish a new training program for employees.
Dave Taylor, chairman of the B.C. Dairy Association, said his group is “shocked and deeply disturbed” by the allegations, calling the incident a “black mark” against the industry and the more than 500 dairy farmers across the province.
“I can’t even find the words,” said Taylor, a Courtenay dairy farmer. “One farmer I talked to said he was sick to his stomach and that’s getting close to where we need to be. This should never happen.”
Taylor said there is no excuse for the employees’ “heinous acts” but noted that “ultimately, management is responsible for their employees.”
Chilliwack Cattle Sales, which has been in operation since the 1950s and has 3,500 heads of cattle and 30 employees, supplies milk to Montreal-based dairy giant Saputo, which owns the Dairyland brand.
In a statement, Saputo said it is outraged by the alleged incident.
"We do not condone any form of animal cruelty and we expect milk producers to adopt proper animal care methods at all times,” said the company, adding it fully supports the SPCA’s investigation.
Moriarty said investigations into animal abuse cases on farms are relatively uncommon because most farm operations take place behind closed doors.
“It is complaint driven, and unless someone inside those doors make a complaint, we rarely receive them,” she said.
The SPCA is calling for Canadian codes of practice for care of farm animals to be incorporated into the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act so the standards can be enforced in law.
