For up to one year, a third-party farm and herd manager will be established, employees will receive additional training, and the farm will receive surprise animal welfare checks and vet visits.
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An Abbotsford dairy farm that the BC SPCA has been investigating for what it calls “troubling” video evidence of animal abuse may once again produce milk.
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The BC Milk Marketing Board has reinstated Cedar Valley Dairy Farms’ license, which was suspended earlier this month pending an investigation into the images. He confirmed that the farm was found guilty of violating “multiple” undisclosed codes of practice.
“Fundamental to the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, dairy cattle should always be handled with care and in a calm and easy manner. The investigation clearly indicated that this area of the code was violated on the farm, ”the marketing board told Postmedia.
Cedar Valley Farms dairy license reinstatement comes with several conditions.
For up to one year, a third-party farm and herd manager will be established, employees will receive additional training, and the farm will receive surprise animal welfare checks and veterinary visits, at their expense, according to the marketing board.
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“The BC Milk Marketing Board will consider any information collected by BC SPCA during its independent investigation and may add additional conditions to the dairy license at any time,” it said in the statement.
BC SPCA expects to conclude its investigation of the more than 300 video clips sometime this month. He hopes to recommend animal cruelty charges against Cedar Valley, said Marcie Moriarty, director of prevention and enforcement.
Postmedia has not been able to independently verify the location where the video was shot or who shot it.
Images released by animal welfare group Animal Justice last week show cattle being beaten, dragged and kicked by farm employees. In one case, a cow confined to a milking carousel is hit “excessively” with a rod, Moriarty said.
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Other clips show a cow being pulled out of a pen using a forklift placed under her hips, some animals sprayed in the face with hoses, one animal limping, and another that appears to have trouble standing.
The farm animals are currently under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture 24 hours a day.
“We have long taken the position that the care and welfare of animals is very important to us,” said a statement released by the farm last week. “We are very saddened by recent events and are in immediate action to get to the bottom of any activity that differs from our animal care commitments.”
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Reference-vancouversun.com