Slaughterhouse complaint, whistleblower video prompt action by B.C. ministry

This still image from a video published by Animal Justice shows a pig at a slaughterhouse.

B.C.‘s Agriculture Ministry has taken action against a pork processing facility in the Fraser Valley after reviewing hundreds of hours of whistleblower video submitted by an animal rights group.

The ministry launched an investigation into Johnston’s Packers – which slaughters hundreds of pigs a day supplied by local farms – after receiving a complaint from Animal Justice late last year.

The advocacy organization alleged the video from inside the facility showed “shocking animal cruelty” and violations of the “very minimal slaughter regulations that do exist.”

A government spokesperson confirmed to CTV News that its investigation has been completed.

“We are always concerned about reports of animal welfare issues and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food has taken action following an investigation into Johnston’s Packers,” a spokesperson said in an email. “The Chilliwack business has been issued a prohibition order and a letter outlining corrective actions.”

No information was provided by the ministry about which provincial laws or regulations Johnston’s may have run afoul of, or why, exactly, the government intervened.

A letter from an assistant deputy minister to Animal Justice in response to its complaint offers some information in that regard – saying Johnston’s was issued a warning letter “regarding” section 13 of the province’s Meat Inspection Regulation.

“An abattoir licence holder must ensure that an animal in the licensed abattoir is kept before slaughter and slaughtered in accordance with the requirements relating to the humane treatment of animals,” the section reads, adding that these requirements are set out in federal legislation.

Issues with use of electric prods, overcrowding

The prohibition order was issued under a section of the B.C.‘s Food Safety Act that allows the province to forbid the use of particular “equipment or methods” if they are “unsanitary or unfit for the growing, raising, cultivating, keeping, harvesting, producing, manufacturing, slaughtering, processing, preparing, packaging, distributing, marking, storing, handling, displaying or transporting of food.”

The ministry confirmed to CTV News that the prohibition order for Johnston’s is “regarding the use of electric prods and overcrowding.”

Johnston’s has been told only to apply prods to pigs' bodies “as required in legislation” and not to use electric prods in spaces where animals cannot “move freely.” The facility has also been ordered to stop overcrowding the animals in “alleyways, chutes and conveyors,” according to a statement from the ministry.

The corrective measures Johnston’s is required to take include temporarily reducing production speed and increasing monitoring of the “hog stunning process.” Additionally, the business is required to take “steps to address concerns about their workers’ occupational health and safety” and to increase staff training on “slaughter and general animal welfare,” the ministry said.

The facility’s operations will be subject to further scrutiny as well.

“In addition to having a ministry veterinarian visit the plant to conduct an in-depth review of their practices, the ministry is also re-focusing the role of inspectors to greater support both food safety and the humane treatment of animals at all slaughter facilities,” an emailed statement said.

‘Standard practices’

The letter from the ministry to Animal Justice also said the investigation did not reveal rampant violations of the laws or regulations it is responsible for enforcing.

“The footage primarily depicts standard practices in a busy hog processing facility,” the letter said. “However, we did identify some areas of concern.”

Allegations of animal cruelty are investigated by the B.C. SPCA, which is conducting a parallel probe of the facility that has not yet been completed, the ministry noted.

“The ministry’s role is to work with the operator to ensure the welfare of animals, which is being done through the actions previously mentioned.”

Johnston’s has not responded to multiple requests for comment. The company’s website does have a section on how pigs are processed, saying humane treatment of the animals is a priority.

“Not only is it the right thing to do, but it makes for high quality pork,” the website says.

Animal Justice issued a statement last week saying the action by the province is significant, but inadequate.

“It’s deeply troubling that it took a whistleblower to bring these horrific abuses to light. It’s also concerning that the ministry is now calling on its own meat inspection staff – who were already on-site – to increase scrutiny, raising serious questions about how these violations were allowed to happen in the first place,” said executive director Camille Labchuk.

The original complaint

Animal Justice’s eight-page complaint about Johnston’s – sent to multiple provincial and federal agencies – alleged that the video from inside the plant showed violations of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the Food Safety Act, and the Criminal Code of Canada.

It lists a litany of allegations, saying the video shows “pigs’ throats being cut prior to stunning, exhibiting signs of consciousness, and then having their throats cut again; workers forcefully handling, mutilating, and throwing conscious animals to the ground; injured pigs being processed for slaughter; botched attempts to stun the pigs alongside the botched attempts to kill the pigs; pigs exhibiting signs of consciousness after having their throat slit, being hung up by their feet, and having to have their throat cut again (and only being stunned thereafter).”

Animal Justice also alleged that workers were seen abusing the animals by kicking and beating them, and that in one case “an employee cuts off a pig’s ear and throws it at another worker.”

The ministry did not comment on any of the specific allegations or the content of the hundreds of videos it reviewed.

An unprecedented look inside?

The video, according to Labchuk, doesn’t only expose alleged cruelty, it marks the first time the organization – and the public – has been able to see inside one of these facilities.

“Never before have we been able to witness the suffering that pigs endure during their final moments,” Labchuk said in an interview with CTV News last month.

“We saw pigs walking into the slaughter chute. You could see on their faces the moment they realized that they’re walking to their death. They stop, they try to flee, and they fight back. They don’t want to die. It was really heartbreaking.”

Animal Justice has published video online showing scenes alleged to be from inside the slaughterhouse, content the group warns is both graphic and disturbing.