Massive fines and even jail time being considered by the province to deter animal rights protests

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — As the provincial government looks to crack down on animal rights protesters, activists are worried the efforts are unconstitutional.

It follows a protest last month at the Jumbo Valley Hutterite Colony in southern Alberta, where protestors briefly occupied an enclosure housing turkeys.

The province is now planning to impose penalties of tens of thousands of dollars and jail time for protesters and those who organize such demonstrations, to try and deter future protests.

“It’s repressive, oppressive and Orwellian,” said Trev Miller, an organizer in the animal rights movement. “Clearly, (Premier Jason Kenney) and his government wants to support industries that are currently causing great harm and distress to individual animals.”

Miller said they have a simple goal, and also want the government to create an animal bill of rights to ensure the safety of farmed animals.

“All we want to do are expose the truths of what’s happening in the industrial animal agri-business and change the laws so that all are respected and protected.”

The activists also believe this is a matter of morality, and what is or isn’t illegal doesn’t necessarily dictate the situation.

“We can’t call the police and say there’s a crime happening on a farm right now, there’s an animal being abused because that’s legal. People are allowed to do what is happening on these farms, it’s time we recognize inherent rights of animals and put a stop to these injustices,” Miller said.

Miller added they do not want to harm the farmers either, but is hopeful this can bring issues to light so consumers start to notice as well.

Activists also noted poor living conditions for the animals at the Hutterite colony, while they wore safety gear to ensure they did not contaminate any of the turkeys.

With the government even going as far as to announce the possibility of a special prosecutor to look into these incidents, other activists said the efforts could be better spent elsewhere.

“It would be far more beneficial, in my mind, to see the government cracking down on animal cruelty rather than to target the people who want to expose it,” said Camille Labchuck, an animal rights lawyer and Executive Director of Animal Justice.

Labchuck points to controversial laws in the United States, known as “ag-gag” laws, which criminalize whistleblowers or people who take undercover videos of activity on farms.

She said if the UCP government tries to enact similar legislation, her organization will launch a legal challenge.

Other countries have stringent laws protecting animals, such as Switzerland and New Zealand.

“In Canada, one thing that we regularly do is allow industries to set their own standards and police themselves,” said Labchuck. “So in other words, the fox is guarding the henhouse.”

Labchuck also pushes back on the province’s assertion this is a major disruption to farmers.

“I don’t really see disruptions occurring, I think it’s more of making a public point that we do pretty horrible things to animals on the way to them ending up on our plate, and the system needs to change.”