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Retailers Distance Themselves From Slaughterhouse Following Shocking Exposé

Last night CTV National News aired shocking footage released by Animal Justice showing botched killings and violent abuse at a slaughterhouse near Vancouver. The footage was the first-ever behind-the-scenes look at a small-scale Canadian slaughterhouse.

The Meadow Valley Meats slaughterhouse focuses heavily on promoting itself as a local meat company. They sell under several names, including 63 Acres, a brand sold to grocery stores with a local-focus, that claims its “happy” cows are treated “humanely” and “ethically”. But the video footage revealed heartbreaking suffering, including:

  • Terrified animals trying desperately to escape
  • Workers beating animals in the face with canes, paddles, and electric prods
  • Animals improperly stunned, and showing signs of consciousness even after being sliced open
  • Sheep slaughtered despite being unable to walk, which would be illegal in the United States as a food safety risk

Following the release of the video, grocery stores are rushing to distance themselves from the slaughterhouse. 

The website for Meadow Valley’s 63 Acres brand of beef said it is being sold at local-focused BC grocery chains like Urban Fare, and an Urban Fare store representative confirmed to Animal Justice last month that 63 Acres meat was sold at the store. Urban Fare belongs to the same parent company as Save-On-Foods, a company that boasts about transparency in their supply chain. As concerned Vancouverites planned to meet outside a location to remind shoppers that slaughterhouses are a nightmare for animals, Urban Fare announced that it no longer sources from Meadow Valley Meats.

Urban Fare has now been removed from the 63 Acres website. In fact, Meadow Valley Meats has removed the entire “Where To Buy” section from its website, as can be seen by Internet Archive’s cache.

Canadians deserve transparency and want to know what they’re supporting with their food choices. The protesters were also calling for BC and Canada to join countries like the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands to require cameras be installed in slaughterhouses. By broadcasting directly to the internet so people can see the truth about slaughter with their own eyes, cameras in slaughterhouses would help encourage compliance with the existing regulations at slaughterhouses and reduce excessive animal suffering.