A police officer stands beside a protester broadcasting video to the internet as farmer Ray Binnendyk, not seen, gives a tour at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford, B.C., on Sunday April 28, 2019. Approximately 50 people occupied a barn and another 135 individuals protested on the rural road outside the farm after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a video last week that it says shows dead piglets as well as fully grown pigs with growths and lacerations.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
April 28, 2019 - 2:00 PM
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - Police have removed dozens of protesters from a barn at a hog farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley where activists say a video was shot depicting sick and dead pigs in cramped crates.
Protester Susan Rowbottom says she was among about 50 people police led out of the barn at Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford just before noon today.
Abbotsford police Sgt. Judy Bird says the protesters are not under arrest and are still standing outside, but there will be a criminal investigation of alleged mischief, break-and-enter and trespassing.
Another 135 individuals who arrived on buses early this morning have gathered outside the property wearing black shirts that read "Meat the Victims" and singing.
The demonstration comes after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a video that it says shows dead piglets as well as fully grown pigs with growths and lacerations.
Ray Binnendyk, one of the brothers who operates the farm, says they are raising the animals to the best of their ability, they love what they do and they are saddened by being depicted as "bad people."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019