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.