A Litigation Article from All-Creatures.org



Crown Drops Charges Against An Activist Who Blew the Whistle on Animal Cruelty at British Columbia Excelsior Hog Farm

FROM Excelsior4.org
May 2022

Three remaining members of the Excelsior 4—who still face years in prison—will begin four-week trial on June 27.

The Excelsior 4 have launched a website to let the public know about their case, the story behind their charges, and how to take action against animal cruelty. Find out more about the Excelsior4.org.

The Crown dropped charges Friday against an animal rights activist who blew the whistle on Excelsior Hog Farm with documented evidence of what activists describe as criminal animal cruelty. Geoff Regier's indictable offences of Break and Enter and Criminal Mischief were dropped after lawyers argued 'Abuse of Process' by the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA). Regier is one of the Excelsior 4, four activists accused of exposing animal cruelty at the Abbotsford hog farm in April 2019.

Regier made contact with the BCSPCA in July 2019 with video footage of animal cruelty at Excelsior. Instead of recommending charges against the hog farm, the BCSPCA violated its own confidentiality policy and turned Regier over to police.

The three remaining activists—Amy Soranno, Roy Sasano, and Nick Schafer—are scheduled to go to trial for four weeks in Abbotsford beginning June 27. The three face a combined total of 18 charges of Break and Enter and Criminal Mischief, and years in jail if convicted.

"The latest stay of charges against one of the Excelsior 4, just weeks before trial, strongly indicates that the Crown's case against us is built on a house of cards," said Roy Sasano, one of the Excelsior 4 heading to trial on June 27. "This case further illustrates the clear bias against animals and activists by the animal agriculture industry, BCSPCA, and police."

Regier's charges getting dropped comes more than a year after a Freedom of Information disclosure revealed that the BCSPCA has no capacity to enforce animal cruelty at factory farms in BC. Activists point to the abuse carried out at Excelsior as just one example of the BCSPCA's failure to take enforcement action despite ample evidence of criminal animal cruelty. "BC needs an enforcement agency that is accountable to the public, not a private charity that is unfit for the role and only answerable to its board of directors," said Amy Soranno, another Excelsior 4 defendant.

In addition to demanding that the hog farm be held accountable, the Excelsior 4 and animal rights activists across the province are calling on BC Agriculture Minster Lana Popham to replace the private charity BCSPCA with a more accountable government agency to enforce against animal cruelty in BC. In the interest of transparency and accountability, activists are also demanding the installation of Closed-Circuit TV cameras at all animal agriculture facilities in BC.

"The fact that we still face prison time while Excelsior Hog Farm is free to continue its abusive practices is a mockery of justice," continued Soranno. "Our case will continue to shine a light on the criminal animal abuse taking place at Excelsior, and the failure to hold them and other factory farms accountable."

The Excelsior 4 have launched a website to let the public know about their case, the story behind their charges, and how to take action against animal cruelty. Find out more about the Excelsior4.org.

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