A provincially-licensed pig slaughterhouse in Chilliwack, British Columbia is being subject to enforcement action by the province, following shocking undercover footage showing horrifying and illegal cruelty animals.
In December 2024, Animal Justice released a gut-wrenching hidden-camera video from Johnston’s Packers (also known as Johnston’s Meats or Johnston’s Pork), giving the first undercover look at pig slaughter in Canada. The footage shows pigs desperately trying to escape, being stunned improperly, cut open while still conscious, and the heartbreaking fear in their eyes as they see they’re about to die.
Following the video release and a legal complaint filed by Animal Justice, provincial authorities issued a prohibition notice, a warning letter, and identified concerns to Johnston’s regarding the cruel treatment of pigs.
In slaughterhouses, it’s legally required that animals are stunned before being killed. But at Johnson’s, workers regularly failed to render animals unconscious before slitting their throats and hanging them to bleed out.
The BC Ministry of Agriculture ordered Johnston’s to provide additional training to workers about proper stunning, and to reduce points where animals are crowding in the slaughter line, after Animal Justice lawyers identified a chaotic and haphazard kill floor, where pigs were seen running over the bodies of dead and dying pigs.
The province has also issued a warning letter to Johnston’s, as well as a prohibition notice under British Columbia’s Food Safety Act regarding the use of electric prods and handling of animals at the slaughterhouse. This is likely in response to footage showing workers using electric prods on pigs with nowhere to go, and to workers using stunners to shock pigs in the face to make them back up—both violations of British Columbia’s Meat Inspection Regulation and the federal Safe Food for Canadian Regulations.
On-site Inspectors Failed to Detect Illegal Cruelty
Provincial inspectors, who are always present at Johnston’s and other provincially-licensed slaughterhouses, told authorities that they never saw any abuse take place. No action was taken by authorities or the company until Animal Justice filed a complaint, despite pigs having their throats slit and being hung up to bleed out while still conscious, after failed stunning attempts, pigs placed in a scalding tank while potentially still alive and moving, and live pigs running over the bodies of dying pig in the slaughter line.
Impact of Undercover Exposés in Farms & Slaughterhouses
Even when inspectors are present, they consistently fail to protect animals from illegal abuse. This is why undercover exposés are critical—they are often the only way to expose unlawful suffering and violations of the provincial and federal laws designed to protect animals killed for food.
Numerous undercover exposés in Canada have led to charges and convictions for animal cruelty, and are an important tool to show the public how animals suffer immensely in farms and slaughterhouses before their flesh is sold in grocery stores.
Following the release of the footage, compassionate citizens in Vancouver took to the streets to protest Johnston’s marketing of “happy” meat, highlighting the cruelty that occurs at their slaughterhouse.
Transparency is the enemy of the meat industry, which thrives on secrecy and keeping suffering hidden from the eyes of the public. Johnston’s even attempted to have Animal Justice’s investigation removed from YouTube, but completely failed to have it buried.
Take Action: Call for Video Surveillance in Slaughterhouses
The public deserves to know how animals suffer in the meat industry. Please join us in calling on the BC government to require surveillance cameras in slaughterhouses that broadcast directly to the internet. Peeling the curtain back on how animals are killed for meat will encourage consumers to make more compassionate food choices, and will help end cruelty to countless animals.