Yesterday Jonathan Talbot, a former worker at Chilliwack Cattle Sales —the largest factory dairy farm in Canada—pleaded guilty to one count of violating the BC Wildlife Act and two counts of violating the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. He will return to court in a few weeks for sentencing.





This is the ninth animal cruelty conviction stemming from a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation at Chilliwack Cattle Sales. Hidden-camera footage shows workers beating, kicking, and punching animals; using chains and tractors to hoist cows into the air; poking and squeezing festering wounds; and punching bulls in the testicles.





See for yourself.









These convictions mark the first time in Canadian history that factory farm workers have received jail time for animal abuse after being exposed through undercover footage by an animal protection organization.





Earlier this year, two former workers at Chilliwack Cattle Sales pleaded guilty to a total of three counts of violating the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Additionally, last December in another historic victory for animals , Chilliwack Cattle Sales and one of its owners, Wesley Kooyman, were convicted of animal cruelty and ordered to pay fines totaling almost $350,000.





The cruelty exposed through MFA’s Chilliwack Cattle Sales investigation led British Columbia’s agricultural minister, Norm Letnick, to amend the BC Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to incorporate the Dairy Code of Practice. MFA is now calling on all Canadian provinces to incorporate the Dairy Code of Practice into their animal cruelty legislation. Doing this will require the dairy industry to follow basic minimum standards for animal welfare.



