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Our thanks to Vancouver Humane Society for the information below and opportunity to send a quick, pre-written and modifiable letter.

In January, Chilliwack-based pig slaughterhouse Johnston’s Meats was ordered to take “corrective actions” after shocking footage released by Animal Justice showed horrific suffering.

The disturbing footage shows frightened and panicked pigs being inhumanely handled, including:

• Animals being improperly stunned before having their throats cut, being hung upside down to bleed out while conscious, and then placed into a scalding tank of boiling water.
• Multiple animals appear to show signs of consciousness after being electrocuted, which is required to render them fully unconscious for the rest of the slaughter process.
• In some clips, workers are seen slitting still-conscious pigs’ throats and electrocuting them multiple times.

Despite this, the Ministry of Agriculture said no illegal behaviour was found, and that the footage depicted “standard practices in a busy hog processing facility.”