No charges nearly two years after animal cruelty case on Chilliwack farm
Posted February 19, 2016 9:50 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – Activists want to know what’s taking Crown Counsel so long to charge some farmers in Chilliwack who were at the centre of an animal abuse case nearly two years ago.
The Vancouver Humane Society says there has been a 19-month delay in prosecuting anyone at the farm.
The group’s Peter Frick says the government has not explained why charges haven’t been laid against the owners and eight of its employees after a disturbing video revealed dairy cows being kicked, punched and beaten with rods.
“We just don’t know what the reason is. It might be a particularly complex case or maybe there is some other reason, but our problem is that it’s taking so long and the Crown hasn’t explained, as far as we’re aware, any reason for the delay.”
In June of 2014, the SPCA recommended animal-cruelty charges.
Animal-rights lawyer Anna Pippus says the delay in laying charges doesn’t make sense. “This is a very serious crime that was unearthed. It would be nice to see this given a real priority by Crown prosecutors and it has been a very long time they’ve been saying, ‘It’s right around the corner. It’s right around the corner.'”
The Vancouver Humane Society says the case is one of the worst of farm animal cruelty in Canadian history.
The Justice Ministry claims a decision from the Crown is coming soon, but didn’t give a timeline.
