Richard Yntema has farmed fallow deer since 1991.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

A BC Judge told an Enderby farmer Monday that some jail time might have been appropriate after he fed animal carcasses to his pigs.

BC Provincial Court Judge Andrew Tam told hog farmer Richard Yntema in Salmon Arm court, Dec. 23, that it would have been relatively simple for the Enderby farmer to have disposed of the waste from his slaughterhouse properly but instead he chose to feed it to his pigs to save money.

"In light of the danger these offences present to the public, a period of incarceration may have been appropriate," Judge Tam told the farmer.

However, instead of going to jail, Yntema opted for a plea deal, whereby he pleaded guilty to numerous charges and agreed that his abattoir would be shut down permanently. The judge gave him six months to clean up the large pits of animal waste on his property.

Federal crown prosecutor Joshua Cramer said if Yntema hadn't agreed to close the abattoir he would have argued for six months in jail.

The move comes after Yntema was charged with nine farming-related offences earlier this year for incidents that took place in 2022.

It was found that Yntema had repeatedly dumped the carcasses from his abattoir into large pits on his property and allowed his wild boar to eat them. He then slaughtered the hogs and sold the meat, some of which ended up being sold at a local butcher.

The court heard that feeding slaughter waste to pigs risks transmitting African swine fever or mad cow disease to the food chain.

The gruesome details read out by the Crown sounded more like a horror movie than a farming operation.

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Government inspectors had found cow hides, skulls and animal bones in pits which the boars were eating as well as other wild animals.

When an inspector turned up, they found a pig with a bone in its mouth.

Neighbours had complained that birds were dropping animal parts on their land.

Throughout the court proceedings, Yntema repetitively said that he tried to work with the authorities but that regulations at all levels of government made it impossible.

Judge Tam dismissed his argument, saying that Yntema had lied to inspectors and that his offences were committed "strictly for financial gain."

Yntema's record goes back almost 15 years and over the years he's been prosecuted for failing to keep proper records, lying to inspectors and receiving untagged animals.

Over the years he's been fined around $20,000 much of which has never been paid back.

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As part of his sentence, Yntema was put under strict conditions and cannot work in the slaughter industry and he must provide full details to the authorities if he rents out his abattoir. The conditions will remain in place for three years.

The judge reiterated that if he didn't comply with the conditions he would be sent to prison.

The 63-year-old farmer said he would now retire.

For more stories on Richard Yntema go here.

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