Chicken Farmers of Canada call video ‘reprehensible’

Jun 13, 2017

Video shows chickens being abused

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) released a statement after a video from British Columbia showed workers torturing chickens.

“CFC found the video aired June 12 on CTV shocking and reprehensible. There is no defense for the mistreatment of birds,” the June 13 statement said.

The video, filmed by Mercy for Animals, appears to show employees of Elite Farm Serviced Ltd., a licensed chicken-catching service in Chilliwack, abusing broiler chickens.

“The images in this video are absolutely sickening and the individual employees and the companies involved need to be held accountable,” Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the BC SPCA, said in a June 12 statement.

Elite Farm Services works directly for Sofina Foods, which sells products under the Lilydale brand across Canada.

Sofina Foods is calling for everyone shown in the video to be fired immediately.

“Sofina Foods Inc. has already been in touch with the owner of the supplier company and requested that all of the supplier’s employees involved in the abusive behaviours be dismissed immediately,” the company said in a June 12 statement. “We are appalled and extremely shocked by the video footage we saw of a few of our supplier’s employees displaying disturbing and unacceptable behaviours that Sofina Foods Inc. does not in any way tolerate or condone.”

A legal case is being put together, says the BC SPCA.

“We will be putting our report to Crown counsel together as quickly as possible and will be recommending multiple charges of animal cruelty under both the Criminal Code of Canada and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,” Moriarty said in the statement.

If convicted, the individuals and companies involved could face a $75,000 fine and a maximum of five years in jail.

Farms.com has reached out to Elite Farm Services for comment.

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