Kennadi Rae Herbert (Left), and Claire Buchanan (Right), exit the Fort Macleod Courthouse 

By Lara Fominoff

“Voices are being heard” say Fort Macleod turkey farm protestors facing break and enter charges

Dec 4, 2019 | 2:35 PM

FORT MACLEOD, AB – About a dozen protestors stood in front of the small courthouse in Fort Macleod Wed. morning (Dec.4), holding signs reading “consumers have the right to know about animal cruelty,” and “you can’t arrest an entire movement.”

They arrived to support 46-year-old Maxwell Ming Mah of Edmonton, 28-year-old Claire Buchanan of Calgary, and 24-year-old Kennadi Rae Herbert of Pincher Creek. All three have been charged with one count each of Breaking and Entering to Commit Mischief, after a large protest took place at a Hutterite Turkey farm near Fort Macleod Sept. 2.

A 16-year-old youth from Calgary has also been charged with the same offence. Her name can not be released.

Outside of the courthouse, Buchanan said she and her co-accused are upset and frustrated that the provincial government was going to what she called “extremes,” to protect some farmers who they believe are treating their animals or livestock cruelly and inhumanely.

Protestors outside the Fort Macleod courthouse Dec. 4

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“We’re all super frustrated that this is happening in the first place; the fact that we are the ones being arrested, and people who are neglecting and hurting animals are not getting in trouble or are being recognized for this. We’re also super disappointed in the new bill that was introduced. Again, they’re trying to conceal animal cruelty, and not doing anything to help stop it.”

The Provincial Government is amending the Petty Trespass Act in response to concerns from farmers, to address trespassing on agricultural land. The punishments for trespassing could include fines of up to $10,000 for a first offence, $25,000 for a second offence, and six months in jail for subsequent offences.

Premier Jason Kenney said Oct. 3, that freedom of speech must be protected, but not when protestors trespass, create mischief and pose potential biohazards on farms.

“Farmers shouldn’t have to worry about people entering their workplace, interfering with their lives, or threatening the health of their animals. This incident made it clear our farmers need stronger protection. We will act to protect our farms and ranches from radical activists.”

However, supporters of the four charged, say if they must break the law in order to protect farm animals, that’s a risk they’re willing to take.

“If the farm industry is not willing to share the truth, who else is going to bring this to light to protect consumers?” asked protest supporter Karin Nelson. “You know it was activists…. who just got those three slaughterhouses out east shut down because of e-Coli concerns. It wasn’t the industry. The industry sadly polices itself.”

Nelson adds they’ve been petitioning the government for years, and nothing is changing.

“Peaceful, direct action is something that activists are taking on all over the world.”

Buchanan and Herbert said they don’t consider “compassion a crime.”

Both women maintain that at the farm on Sept. 2, they saw turkeys that couldn’t stand on their own, workers handling them poorly, turkeys being thrown into an incinerator and burned alive, and others that may have had tumours or appeared sick. That information, however, has not been independently verified.

Herbert also claims she has been receiving death threats from some members of the Hutterite community.

“People said that we chose them (Hutterites) because we knew they weren’t going to be violent, because they’re pacifists. Two things on that: one, they are not pacifists. I have literally received death threats. I have had Hutterites appear at my work on more than one occasion, looking for me.”

Buchanan, Herbert and Ming Mah will be back in court Jan. 8, 2020. The judge in the case allowed the terms of Buchanan’s undertaking to be modified to allow her to continue volunteer work at the Alice Sanctuary in Wheatland County.

The youth charged, who also attended court proceedings Wednesday, will be back in youth court later this month.