A Canadian company that provides chicken catching services for Sofina Foods has pleaded guilty to two charges of causing undue suffering to animals.
Elite Farm Services, Chilliwack, British Columbia, entered the pleas on September 27, related to the charges that date back to December 2018. The pleas were entered at the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada confirmed with CBC.
A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The case came to light following the release of an undercover video circulated by animal rights group Mercy for Animals.
Also charged but yet to enter pleas were Sofina Foods and Dwayne Paul Dueck, who is the president of Elite Farm Services. According to the initial charges, the three defendants were responsible for unlawfully beating the chickens and loading or unloading them in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering. Those charges are considered violations of Canada’s Health of Animals Regulations.
The charges against Elite Farm Services came more than a year after the company decided to use video cameras in hopes of preventing animal abuse. The decision to use video cameras was made following the release of a Mercy for Animals Video. However, at the time, Drew McArthur, the acting British Columbia information and privacy commissioner, said using those cameras was a violation of British Columbia’s Personal Information Prevention Act (PIPA).
Sofina Foods, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, is active in both the broiler and turkey industries. The company operates several subsidiaries involved in meat production, including poultry businesses Cuddy Food Products, Lilydale and Janes Family Foods.
Earlier in 2021, Sofina Foods announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Eight Fifty Food Group, a European pork and Seafood company, from private equity firm CapVest Partners. CapVest Partners acquired U.K. pork processor Karro Food Group in 2017 and Young’s Seafood in 2019. CapVest later consolidated those two entities with five other protein businesses from across Europe to form Eight Fifty Food Group.
