Pig farm protest: B.C. activists charged after hidden camera-prompted demonstration

This still image was taken from footage activists say was captured at Excelsior Hog Farm in February and March and later provided to PETA anonymously.

VANCOUVER — Four people who describe themselves as animal rights activists are facing charges in connection with a pig farm protest last year.

The protest was in Abbotsford, B.C., at a farm that was the subject of an investigation by the BC SPCA in 2019.

The society looked into video released by the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which the group said it received anonymously.

The video PETA said had been captured at Excelsior Hog Farm in February and March 2019 showed a number of dead piglets, as well as a pig corpse that appeared to be in an advanced state of decomposition.

Some pigs in the video appeared to have growths, and one seemed to have trouble standing.

The BC SPCA said the video raised concerns, but the society couldn't come to any legal conclusions that an offence had taken place, especially without the co-operation of the person who recorded the video.

That video was released by PETA in April, and a protest was held outside the Excelsior farm on April 28.

Police said at the time that a woman had been taken into custody and that charges would be recommended.

Amy Sorrano was charged with break-and-enter and mischief on that date, court records show.

But now, it appears two more people have been charged with the same offences on that date: Roy Makoto Sasano and Nicholas Steven George Schafer.

Further charges have since been laid in connection with their alleged actions at the farm. Sorrano, Sasano and Schafer, along with Jeff Luke Rigear, have been charged with break-and-enter and mischief for offences alleged to have happened on Feb. 9, 2019.

Rigear, Schafer and Soranno are charged with another alleged break-and-enter on Feb. 10, and Schafer and Soranno face the same charge for incidents reported on March 3 and 5.

None of the charges have been proven in court.

All four are scheduled to appear in Abbotsford Provincial Court on Sept. 3 for some of the charges.