A B.C. cattle company has pleaded guilty to animal abuse charges, years after video secretly recorded at a dairy farm revealed what animal activists called egregious treatment of cows.
Chilliwack Cattle Sales pleaded guilty to causing an animal to continue to be in distress, CTV Vancouver’s Maria Weisgarber reported in a series of tweets from a B.C. court on Friday.
One company director, Wesley Kooyman, also pleaded guilty to the same charge, Weisgarber reported.
The pleas come more than two years after Mercy for Animals conducted an undercover sting at the farm, exposing what they called “egregious” treatment of dairy cows. The BC SPCA later charged the farm and seven of its employees with 20 animal cruelty counts.
Footage captured at Chilliwack Cattle Sales in May 2014 showed workers allegedly kicking, punching and beating animals with various instruments, according to Mercy For Animals.
The Crown and defence teams on Friday were making a joint submission and recommending a $225,000 fine.
With files from CTV Vancouver
