Photo: Animal Justice via The Chilliwack Progress
New undercover footage reportedly filmed at a B.C. slaughterhouse shows horrific animal suffering and violations of slaughter regulations.
The footage, made public by Animal Justice, was allegedly filmed by a whistleblower at the Chilliwack-based Johnston’s Meats facility.
The disturbing footage shows frightened and panicked pigs being inhumanely handled, including:
- Animals being improperly stunned before having their throats cut, being hung upside down to bleed out while conscious, and then placed into a scalding tank of boiling water.
- Multiple animals appear to show signs of consciousness after being electrocuted, which is required to render them fully unconscious for the rest of the slaughter process.
- In some clips, workers are seen slitting still-conscious pigs’ throats and electrocuting them multiple times.
Where animals from family farms go to die
The investigation into Johnston’s Meats facility offers a look into the horrific realities of animals killed for meat that is marketed as “proudly local”.
This small-scale, provincially-licensed slaughterhouse kills approximately 500 pigs per day, arriving from family farms around the Fraser Valley. Pig meat from this facility can be found at local grocery stores and butcher shops.
It is another devastating reminder that labels such as local, family run, and small-scale are not indicators of good welfare conditions for animals.
Latest in a series of undercover investigations in B.C.
Over the past decade, near-annual investigations at farms and slaughterhouses have uncovered recurring welfare problems in British Columbia’s animal agriculture industry.
Patterns have emerged over years of investigations that reveal:
- Cruelty is endemic in animal agriculture industry
- Repercussions are not enough to prevent companies from being repeat offenders
- Animals are treated as products, not beings
Read about the past ten years of animal cruelty investigations in the province.
Take action
Following growing concerns about the state of farmed animal welfare in B.C., an advisory committee tasked with reviewing the province’s farmed animal welfare framework has presented its recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture. The report aligns with many of the recommendations that the VHS and other animal protection organizations have long been calling for.
Join the VHS in urging decision-makers to prioritize next steps to better protect farmed animals in B.C.