Amy Sorrano and Nick Schafer, Kelowna-based animal activists, were sentenced on Wednesday for their role in exposing animal cruelty at the Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford back in 2019.
The pair were convicted of one charge each of break-and-enter and mischief and will begin their 30-day jail sentence on Friday, Oct. 21 at the Okanagan Corrections Centre in Oliver.
Both were also sentenced to a year probation and a prohibition on making contact with Excelsior, its owner or any animal farm.
Soranno and Schafer, along with Roy Sasano and Geoff Regier, known colloquially as the 'Excelsior 4', were arrested in 2019 as a part of a mass protest at the Hog Farm in Abbotsford and charged with over 20 indictable offences. All of Regier's charges were dropped in May, while Sasano was acquitted.
The Excelsior Hog Farm came under intense scrutiny in 2019 when the four activists, along with hundreds of other protestors, broke into one of the barns at the farm after a video was released by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), allegedly showing improper treatment of the pigs.
In the video, it shows pigs in cramped conditions, some bloodied and rife with tumours and lacerations.
However, after an investigation by the BC SPCA, the company declined to press charges after they could not properly verify the authenticity of the video, saying it lacked timestamps or geographic indicators.
"This case shows in stark terms the utter failure of the animal agriculture industry and law enforcement to protect farmed animals from abuse," said acquitted defendant Sasano. "The Crown is more interested in criminalizing and jailing nonviolent activists than holding animal abusers accountable."
Soon after Soranno and Schafer were sentenced, dozens of supporters staged a peaceful protest at the Hog Farm in an effort to keep attention on the animal cruelty that activists argue should have been the focus of the case.
Soranno and Schafer are currently appealing their sentences. Their legal counsel will be filing an application for bail and if it is granted, their sentences may be deferred until the appeal is heard.
