Activists Took to a Stage at the Annual ‘Offleashed’ Event, Chanting ‘The BCSPCA Is Failing Farmed Animals: BCSPCA step down!’
Vancouver, BC – Each year, the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA) attracts hundreds of supporters to Vancouver’s largest event that ‘celebrates animals.’ This year, the gala also attracted guests who felt the private charity was, on the contrary, failing animals. Six animal activists joined the event proceedings and stormed the stage chanting “the BCSPCA is failing farmed animals,” while more protesters gathered outside the building with leaflets, megaphones, and signs saying “BCSPCA Step Down.” The group is calling for the BCSPCA to relinquish their enforcement of animal cruelty on farms, to have the Ministry of Agriculture implement a more accountable and transparent governement body to take over.
In 2019, video footage was obtained from Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, BC, and released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “The video revealed both legal and criminal animal cruelty,” said Zoe Peled, one of the protestors, “pregnant pigs crammed in cages unable to move, dead pigs rotting in pens with live pigs eating their bodies, dumpsters full of dead pigs, workers shocking pigs in the face with electric prods, workers hitting & kicking these animals, and workers cutting off the tails & testicles of piglets with no pain relief.”
The animal cruelty footage from Excelsior was turned over to the BCSPCA in July 2019. Instead of recommending charges against the hog farm, the BCSPCA violated its own confidentiality policy and turned the whistleblower–Geoff Regier–over to police. The BCSPCA claimed that they could not recommend charges against the farm because the Crown determined that the video evidence was inadmissible because it appeared to be obtained illegally. According to the activists, Crown would not respond to FOI requests asking who made such a determination, and how. The BCSPCA has yet to answer the same questions, and will not confirm if anyone from the BCSPCA or the BC Prosecution Service viewed any of the evidence.
Years later, after lawyers argued ‘Abuse of Process’ by the BCSPCA during pretrial hearings in April 2022, the Crown prosecutor dropped Regier’s charges without any official explanation. Regier’s charges getting dropped comes more than a year after a Freedom of Information disclosure revealed that the BCSPCA has no capacity to enforce animal cruelty at factory farms in BC.
Regier is one of the Excelsior 4, four activists accused of exposing animal cruelty at the Abbotsford hog farm in April 2019. The three remaining activists went on trial in Abbotsford beginning June 27. On July 9, the jury acquitted Roy Sasano, but found Amy Soranno and Nick Schafer guilty of one count of Break and Enter and Criminal Mischief each. On Oct. 12, Amy Soranno and Nick Schafer were sentenced to 30 days in jail, 12 months of probation, and are required to provide their DNA to the National DNA Data Bank. “This is the highest sentencing decision for a sit-in type protest in Canadian history,” said Leo Salloum, Soranno’s lawyer.
The BCSPCA’s ‘Offleashed’ gala commenced days after Soranno and Schafer were sentenced to jail. Over a dozen supporters protested at JW Marriott Parq Vancouver–the event venue–in an effort to keep attention on the animal cruelty that activists argue should have been the focus of this case. “With nonviolent activists being sent to jail for exposing animal cruelty, the priorities of the BCSPCA are clear,” said Zoe Peled, a supporter of the Excelsior 4. “The system is designed to protect the animal agriculture industry and to let animal farms like Excelsior continue their abusive practices with impunity.”
As Peled and five other activists took to the stage at the Offleashed event, they unveiled a banner reading, “private charities shouldn’t enforce public laws,” which was quickly ripped down by BC SPCA supporters. At least one activist was physically assaulted by a hotel employee, while other BCSPCA supporters [including one BCSPCA employee], jumped on stage in an intimidating manner, booing, tearing the protestor’s signs in half, and throwing food at the activists. The disruption concluded when BCSPCA CEO Craig Daniell escorted the group off the stage and spent around 15 minutes discussing their concerns–something he had previously refused to do.
One week prior to Soranno and Schafer’s sentencing hearing, the Excelsior 4 sent the BCSPCA a letter, requesting a meeting. In response to the Excelsior 4’s criticisms, and protests by other activists, the BCSPCA had stated that they would prefer to work together towards common goals. The Excelsior 4 wanted to discuss a way to move forward together, and attempted to arrange a meeting prior to sentencing. On Aug. 25, the BCSPCA refused to have a recorded meeting. The Excelsior 4 offered to find ways to alleviate whatever concerns that the BCSPCA had about recording, but the BCSPCA refused to explain their reasons or discuss the matter.
This time, when Daniell was seemingly forced to speak with activists (while being recorded), he stated that his letter to the Ministry was misconstrued and that prior to the BCSPCA turning Geoff Regier to police, Regier had sent an email to the society stating that he was willing to face legal repercussions; failing to acknowledge that the BCSPCA had no legal obligation to do so. “Craig Daniell’s assertion that Geoff was willing to face charges is ignoring the fact that Geoff said he was willing to face repercussions if animal cruelty charges were laid against Excelsior (and he was required as a witness in the case), in accordance with the BCSPCA’s confidentiality policy,” said Sasano. “It’s absurd to suggest that he gave the BC SPCA his blessing to turn him over to the police for no reason whatsoever.” [See attached PDF for the email exchange between Regier and Shawn Eccles, Senior Manager of Cruelty Investigations]
A portion of the evening’s events, including the intimidating guests’ behavior towards the activists, can be observed via this video and this one filmed by the activists, the latter of which includes the conversation between activists and Daniell. Additional visuals from the event will be available and circulated shortly.
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