On Monday, it was announced that the Crown stayed (dropped) charges Friday against an animal rights activist who blew the whistle on Excelsior Hog Farm with documented evidence of what activists describe as criminal animal cruelty. Geoff Regier's indictable offenses of Break and Enter and Criminal Mischief were dropped after lawyers argued 'Abuse of Process' by the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA).

After the news broke into media, Marcie Moriarty, Chief Prevention and Enforcement Officer with the BC SPCA, angrily contacted legal counsel of the Excelsior 4 stating she will be demanding media to change their stories. Shortly after, we saw that CTV News Vancouver and Abbotsford News removed a number of factual statements provided by the Excelsior 4. Comments provided by the BC SPCA in these revisions were either untrue (ie. Regier was more than cooperative) or irrelevant to Crown Counsel’s decision in staying these charges (ie. comments from the Justice).

On Tuesday, it was confirmed by reporters from CTV News that the BC SPCA did contact them to change their stories. After discussion with these reporters, CTV News have re-included statements that were removed, including how the BC SPCA turned Regier over to police and that Regier’s counsel argued the BC SPCA breached their own informant confidentiality policy (as found on their own website). You can find the original CTV article here and the current version here. Abbotsford News has not made any further changes to their story.

Let’s outline the facts that the BC SPCA are desperately trying to cover up: 

• Fact: Excelsior 4's lawyers stated the intention to argue in pre-trial for stays of charges based on misconduct by the BC SPCA and Abby PD.
• Fact: The key argument for Regier’s charges to be stayed is that the BC SPCA committed abuse of process, as this was the main defense during pre-trial.
• Fact: The BCSPCA broke its own confidentiality policy by turning Geoff over to the AbbyPD without so much as a request to do so, let alone a warrant.
• Fact: Stays were granted to Regier by Crown counsel, not the Justice.

Additionally, it is borderline implausible that Crown counsel would randomly decided to grant stays for reasons unrelated to pre-trial after pursuing these charges for 2 years. However…

• The BC SPCA contacted multiple media outlets asking to remove any wording that would lead to readers understanding the above.
• The BC SPCA also appeared to get irrelevant information added regarding the Justice's decisions, even though the decision to stay charges was made by Crown counsel.
• These stays conveniently allow the BC SPCA to avoid further scrutiny in court regarding their actions/inactions surrounding Excelsior Hog Farm and Regier, so the Excelsior 4’s reports to the media are the only way the general public will know about what they did.

Ultimately, the BC SPCA is hoping to save face and are pulling all stops to sweep their abuse of power and misconduct under the rug. The BC SPCA is not absolved of their wrongdoings because charges were stayed. Their desperate attempts to cover up the truth does not wash away the consequences of their continued actions. Shame on the BC SPCA for continuing to avoid accountability.

This is a clear cut example why a private charity should not enforce animal cruelty laws, especially one that depends on public donations to operate. In order to maintain these donations, they have to keep a pristine public image and appease major industry donors. Thus, they can never be truthful or transparent to any misconduct or wrongdoings because money is more important than the animals they claim (and fail) to protect.

Want to make a stand for animals and to ensure they will have a future with an accountable and transparent agency monitoring?

Call on BC Agriculture Minster Lana Popham to replace the private charity BC SPCA with a more accountable government agency, and install Closed-Circuit TV cameras at all animal agriculture facilities in BC.

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To learn more about the Excelsior 4 and their upcoming trial on June 27th, please check out the Excelsior 4 website.