Abbotsford, BC – Four animal rights activists accused of filming animal cruelty at Excelsior Hog Farm in the spring of 2019 just had their jury trial set for June 27, 2022 at the BC Supreme Court in Abbotsford. Their trial is expected to last 19 days.
The defendants—Amy Soranno, Geoff Regier, Roy Sasano, and Nick Schafer—known as the Excelsior 4, face 21 combined charges of Break and Enter and Criminal Mischief. If convicted, they face decades in prison. The Excelsior 4 will also have a 10-day pretrial hearing scheduled for March 28, 2022.
“Our case will continue to shine a light on the criminal animal abuse taking place at Excelsior Hog Farm, and the failure to hold the factory farm accountable,” said defendant Amy Soranno. “We will use our trial as an opportunity to further expose the rampant violence and suffering in animal agriculture, and the complicity of our justice and enforcement systems,” she continued.
The trial date announcement comes as newly disclosed Freedom of Information documents reveal that the private charity BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA) is unfit to enforce animal cruelty at factory farms in BC. The abuse being carried out at Excelsior Hog Farm is just one example of the BCSPCA’s failure to take enforcement action, choosing instead to turn a whistleblower over to police, violating the charity’s own confidentiality policy, and ignoring the video evidence of animal cruelty.
In addition to demanding that the hog farm be held accountable, the Excelsior 4 and animal rights activists across the province are calling on BC Agriculture Minster Lana Popham to replace the private charity BCSPCA with a more accountable government agency to enforce against animal cruelty in BC. In the interest of transparency and accountability, activists are also demanding the installation of Closed-Circuit TV cameras at all animal agriculture facilities in BC.
“It is unacceptable and possibly unconstitutional to have laws pertaining to animals, or any other laws, enforced by a charity which is exempt from mechanisms of public accountability and transparency essential to the responsible use of such power,” according to a statement by Jordan Reichert, Deputy Leader of the Animal Protection Party of Canada. “Let’s start by at least making those protecting animals accountable under the law, even if the animals themselves are not yet treated equally under it.”
With the trial date announcement, the Excelsior 4 have launched a website to let the public know about their case, the story behind their charges, and how to take action against animal cruelty. To find out more about the Excelsior 4: www.excelsior4.org.
