Chilliwack company and Ontario-based poultry processor fined $300K each for animal cruelty

A Chilliwack company and an Ontario-based poultry processor have been fined $300,000 each after pleading guilty in September to two charges of animal cruelty for causing undue suffering to chickens.

Elite Farm Services Ltd. of Chilliwack and Ontario-based Sofina Foods Inc. are also subject to three-years probation.

The B.C. SPCA opened an investigation in response to the release of video footage showing hens stuck in mounds of feces and packed into wire cages with dead birds.

According to court documents, a volunteer with the non-profit Mercy for Animals was hired as a chicken catcher at Elite Farms in 2017 and documented inhumane treatment, which included workers tossing, kicking, dropping and tormenting birds.

The decision found Sofina, through its live haul supervisor, failed to ensure Elite Farms was meeting  minimum standards to ensure chickens were not handled in a manner likely to cause injury or undue suffering.

It also said Sofina has a track record of violations, before this event and after, but that this was a first offence for Elite Farms.

Sofina was given six months to pay its fine, while Elite Farms has 10 years in which to pay.

In its decision, the court noted that Elite Farms Services dismissed employees who engaged in wrongdoing in June 2017. It says the company also significantly revised its procedures for chicken catching and instituted enhanced training programs.

Sofina has also made significant changes to its procedures, the court said, hiring a vice president of animal care and developing a designated internal animal welfare team.

Elite Farm Services president Dwayne Dueck, who was also charged, apologized for the employment misconduct and for the company's lack of supervision.

He will be responsible for ensuring the company complies with the probation order.