The BC SPCA was alerted to an undercover investigation performed by Mercy for Animals. One of their employees posed as a worker at Chilliwack Cattle Sales and filmed his experience there. The video depicted numerous acts of violence towards animals, including beating, kicking, stomping and hitting cows.
After a lengthy investigation the BC SPCA recommended 20 charges to crown for Chilliwack Cattle Sales and its employees. The company and its CEO Wesley Kooyman pleaded guilty to three of those counts.
The Court accepted a joint submission from counsel for a $75,000 fine on each count for each defendant and that Kooyman receive a one-year prohibition order under section 24(3) of the Act stating that he would not participate as a director or officer in the company and, except for feeding cattle, that he not have custody or care of dairy cattle (para 5). In total, for the company itself the fines were $225,000 plus $33,750 in victim fine surcharge for a $258,700 total; with respect to Kooyman, the $75,000 fine including victim fine surcharge amounted to $86,250 (para 6), bringing the grand total of fines in this matter to $344,950.
This case sets precedent as it is the first case where a company has been held responsible for an offence, and Chilliwack Cattle Sales received the maximum fine associated with these offences.