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Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Protester Susan Rowbottom, 28, was among those led out of the barn while her eight-year-old son participated in the protest outside. All the activists left the property by about 2:30 p.m., she said.

“I am proud to be part of this team. I am proud to be with all my fellow vegans,” she said. “We just want to open the public’s eyes so they can see and make an informed decision about where their food comes from.”

Ray Binnendyk, one of the brothers who operates Excelsior, said the PETA video was shot in secret by someone trespassing at night and he believes some of the images were staged.

“Some of those pictures could not have even been from our farm. We are not sure. I find it’s very hard when someone puts out information that’s incorrect about how we do things here as a family farm,” he said. “It’s very disturbing to see what traction this gets in the media for people that are implicating us as criminals.”

His brother Jeff Binnendyk said the farm is “clean” and if they did not take proper care of every pig, it would not still be operating.

“We’re more scared about the safety of our pigs and about what kind of diseases (protesters are) bringing in or, after all of this is done, what’s going to happen to our herd,” he said.

Rowbottom said activists that entered the barn wore biohazard suits with foot coverings and gloves and they did not touch any of the animals.

Photo by DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Farmer Ray Binnendyk said the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals was looking into his farm. The brothers raise the animals to the best of their ability and follow industry guidelines that require veterinarians to visit every few months, he added.