B.C. hog farm accused of animal cruelty after new video released

A hog farm in B.C.’s Fraser Valley is facing new allegations of animal cruelty after secretly recorded video was released by an animal rights group.

Animal Justice claims the video was recorded at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford earlier this year.

The video includes disturbing images including dead pigs, the carcasses of piglets that appear to have been partially eaten, pigs being jabbed at with a rod, and pigs with injuries.

“It shows pigs with wounds, bloody lacerations, hernias and even prolapses where their innards are protruding outside their bodies,” said Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice.

It’s unclear from the video whether the pigs were receiving medical attention.

Animal Justice said it received the video anonymously.

“I was disappointed, I was (shocked) but I was not surprised,” said Labchuk.

Excelsior is the same farm targeted by animal rights activists after video was released in 2019. Animal Justice claims the new video is just as troubling.

“There’s one image where a pig who appears to have problems with her rear legs is essentially forced to move outside of the stall before she is shot and killed,” said Labchuk.

“Under the industry’s own rules, it’s not acceptable to drag pigs in that way and force them to move when they’re unable to do so,” she said.

The SPCA said it will be investigating Excelsior Farms after receiving a complaint for the second time in recent years.

“It appears to, on the face of it, show some violations of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, potentially the Criminal Code and without a doubt violations of industry’s own subscribed national codes of practice,” said Marcie Moriarty of the B.C. SPCA.

“Definitely evidence of unsanitary conditions, including what appeared to be feces in a water trough,” she added.

The chair of the B.C. Pork Producers Association has also watched the video.

“I think there’s things that happen on farms. Some of it is not always the prettiest to see when there’s pigs that prolapse, or things happen during birthing, or during the process of raising animals,” said Jack Dewit.

“But when you take three or four months of video and cram it into five minutes, they can make it look pretty bad,” he said, explaining that sometimes things can get missed during the night or when there is no one in the barns.

Animal Justice has said the video was recorded between April and June of this year, but took some time to review.

“It’s disturbing that if the main focus is about the animals, why did they wait this long to release the video?” Dewit questioned.

While no animal cruelty charges were laid against the farm following an SPCA investigation in 2019, two protestors were convicted of break and enter. Their appeals begin next week.

Meanwhile, Dewit said he has spoken to the farm owners and said it has been very disturbing for the family. He also said a veterinarian will be contacting the farm.

When asked about the dead pigs in the video that appeared to be partially eaten, Dewit said ideally, you would take dead animals out of the barn right away. But that doesn’t always happen.

“When you have a farm with a lot of animals, sometimes you don’t get to every location in the barn as quick as you should,” he said.

CTV News requested an interview with Excelsior’s owners through the Pork Producers Association, but they declined.