MONTREAL – Camille Labchuk, Green Party of Canada candidate in the Trinity–Spadina by-election, held a press conference on behalf of the organization Mercy For Animals Canada in Montreal this morning to reveal new hidden camera video of horrific animal abuse taking place at a Chilliwack, BC dairy factory farm. Labchuk is a Mercy For Animals Canada board member.
The footage shows farm workers viciously kicking, punching, beating and hitting cows with chains, canes, metal pipes and rakes. The BC SPCA raided the facility last week, and is recommending that criminal cruelty to animals charges be laid against eight workers at the Chilliwack Cattle Company. An investigation of the company itself is now underway.
“The public has a right to know how animals are treated behind the closed doors of factory farms,” said Labchuk, a Toronto criminal defence and animal rights lawyer. “We must always be vigilant in speaking out against cruelty and violence on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves."
The Green Party of Canada supports animal welfare legislation aimed at preventing inhumane treatment of farm animals, including minimum standards of treatment and a timetable for the phase-out of intensive factory farming. Greens also support updating Canada’s Criminal Code as it pertains to animal protection, moving crimes against animals from the property section, and recognizing animals as sentient beings.
-30-
Contact:
Nicholas Gall
Communications Coordinator
Green Party of Canada
(613) 614 4916
nicholas.gall@greenparty.ca