WARNING: The following story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
A B.C. farm labour company will make workers wear body cameras on the job after a horrific video of chickens being beaten, thrown and dismembered was made public earlier this week.
Elite Services, based in Chilliwack, B.C., said that one supervisor and two staff members in each barn will have to wear cameras on their safety vests. The footage collected will be reviewed at the end of each day and stored for 30 days.
The surveillance system will be fully implemented within the next two weeks, the company said.
“It is our hope that the senseless acts of violence that were perpetrated in the video will be a catalyst to implement new elevated levels of animal care, not just at Elite Services, but industry wide,” said Elite president Dwayne Dueck in a statement released Wednesday.
The statement comes amid allegations from a fired supervisor that Elite knew about abuse on the farm and that management had been repeatedly been told about the incidents.
The undercover footage, which was shot by a whistleblower and surfaced Monday, shows a worker pulling a live chicken whose leg was stuck under a crate until the bird’s leg ripped off. Other footage shows workers slamming chickens against crates, and mimicking sex acts with the birds by thrusting into them.
The company said it has fired a sixth employee after closely reviewing the tapes. It also clarified that, of the five employees previously terminated, two were dismissed prior to the video being published.
The company did not offer an explanation as to why the two employees were fired. They said the other three workers were fired as a “direct result” of the video.
In a message to its partners, Elite says it plans to move forward with “elevated standards.”
“We commit to being transparent and invite our partners to examine our operation at any time,” Dueck wrote.
Mercy For Animals, an animal rights group that produced the undercover video, has filed a formal complaint with the RCMP, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the BC SPCA The B.C. SPCA is recommending animal abuse charges against all individuals involved.
Individuals convicted of animal cruelty could face a fine up to $75,000, a maximum five-year prison sentence and a possible ban for life from owning or being around animals.
