The BC Milk Marketing Board says milk from a Chilliwack cattle farm under investigation for alleged animal abuse will be destroyed.
Global News has learned that the milk will be destroyed in two ways: in the producer’s waste pit at Chilliwack Cattle Sales or taken to an incineration disposal site in Lynden, Washington.
The news comes after the release of a video showing now former employees kicking and beating cows at the farm.
The marketing board announced says they have received requests from processors, including Saputo, that milk orders do not include deliveries from Chilliwack Cattle Sales until independent audits have been completed.
Chilliwack dairy farmer and board member of the BC Dairy Association Jeremy Wiebe says he considers the move to destroy the milk ‘terrible waste.’
Wiebe says since the incident took place, measures have been put in place to ensure that there is no more animal abuse at the farm, including BC Dairy Association hiring a monitor to supervise night operations at the farm.
He says Chilliwack Cattle Sales has opened its doors to media and the public to show the cows are being well taken care of.
“It is important to differentiate between animal abuse and welfare,” says Wiebe. “The issue here was animal abuse by the night milkers. It was horrific. I saw the video, it was terrible. But the animals at the farm are very well taken care of. The cows are not neglected.”
Wiebe says it is impossible for the farm to stop production.
“Cows still need to be milked twice a day every day and will produce the same amount of milk that needs to go somewhere…To dump all that milk down the drain when it meets all the quality standards, it does not seem like a good long-term solution,” he says.
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