More Video Footage of Abuse at Hog Farm was Disclosed Last Week, Four Years After Activists Exposed Video Evidence of Animal Cruelty
VANCOUVER, BC – The criminal appeal of two activists convicted in July 2022 of break-and-enter and mischief for their role in exposing animal cruelty at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, BC, will be heard Thursday, November 23 at 10am by a three-judge panel of the BC Court of Appeal. Amy Soranno and Nick Schafer each received a 30-day jail sentence in October 2022, but both were granted bail pending their appeal. Soranno and Schafer seek to set aside their convictions and are requesting a new trial. Flanked by their supporters, they will hold a rally and press conference at 9am outside the BC Court of Appeal in advance of their hearing.
Soranno and Schafer’s appeal comes just days after national animal law advocacy organization Animal Justice exposed additional, recently documented footage of abuse at Excelsior received from an anonymous whistleblower. Animal Justice says this latest evidence of cruelty exceeds the levels exposed by activists four years ago and has called on the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA) to recommend charges against the owners of the hog farm. To view the latest video footage of abuse at Excelsior, go to: https://animaljustice.ca/exposes/abused-pigs-excelsior-hog-farm.
“Four years after we exposed horrific animal cruelty at Excelsior Hog Farm, even worse documented evidence of abuse has just been exposed,” said Soranno. “Yet, Excelsior has never been held accountable.” The footage published last week by Animal Justice shows dead and rotting pigs, blood-smeared walls, blood and feces in water troughs, farm owners repeatedly kicking and violently abusing pigs, including jabbing them with metal rods, hitting them with boards, and improperly killing them. Bodies of piglets are seen strewn around the floors, after being eaten by either farm animals or other pigs, all of which has manifested in widespread injuries and illnesses, including massive hernias, pressure sores, and bloody prolapses.
Soranno, Schafer, and scores of others were arrested on April 28, 2019, following a protest at Excelsior Hog Farm organized by Meat the Victims. The Crown decided to proceed only against Soranno, Schafer, and fellow activists Roy Sasano and Geoff Regier, who together are known as the Excelsior 4. All four were charged with more than 20 indictable offenses, but Regier’s charges were dropped after a pretrial hearing in May 2022, and Sasano was acquitted at trial.
In their appeal factum, Soranno and Schafer argue that the trial judge, BC Supreme Court Justice Frits Verhoeven, made errors in law by blocking them from showing the jury video evidence of animal cruelty at Excelsior, including the very footage the activists were accused of exposing. Justice Verhoeven also prevented Soranno and Schafer from explaining to the jury that the hog farm had engaged in unlawful animal abuse, thereby undermining the activists’ claims that they believed their actions were lawful.
The appellants also argue that they were prevented from using a necessity defense, which would have allowed Soranno and Schafer to argue that their actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm to animals from occurring. The appellants further argue that their actions were necessary to expose the animal abuse and neglect taking place at Excelsior Hog Farm and that the trial judge erred in not considering this defense. Instead, Justice Verhoeven claimed that the activists had a “political agenda” in seeking to publicize the video evidence of animal cruelty, thereby using irrelevant considerations in determining whether certain evidence should be admissible at trial.
“The tragic footage exposed last week shows that when farms like Excelsior are allowed to abuse animals with impunity, they will continue to do what’s expedient,” said Soranno. Just last week, the BCSPCA admitted that “auditing more than 5,000 commercial farms in British Columbia far extends past the scope of the non-profit organization.” The Excelsior 4 and other animal activists are demanding an enforcement agency that can adequately protect animals and is accountable to the public. The BCSPCA and animal activists are united in calling for the BC Ministry of Agriculture to implement publicly monitored CCTV cameras in all slaughterhouses.
The appeal hearing comes as the federal government is attempting to pass a so-called “ag-gag” law, Bill C-275, under the guise of “biosecurity.” However, this bill, which passed a second reading in June, would increase the already harsh penalties for the same whistleblower activity that Soranno and Schafer are being criminalized for. Bill C-275 would hinder the gathering and disclosure of evidence related to animal welfare, workers’ rights, food safety and environmental protection, and would do nothing to protect animal welfare in the animal agriculture industry.
“The ongoing suffering of sensitive pigs and piglets at Excelsior Hog Farm represents a shocking failure of our legal system to protect animals on farms,” said lawyer Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice. “Instead of prosecuting whistleblowers, authorities should act immediately to end the gut-wrenching abuse that Excelsior has been allowed to get away with,” continued Labchuk. “It’s time for BC to introduce legal standards for animal welfare on farms, and proactive inspections so that animal suffering no longer remains hidden.”
Additional information can be found at the Excelsior 4 website: excelsior4.org.
