A farmer from Centre-du-Québec who left his herd of cows to starve to death in terrible conditions has just been fined.
“The entire herd, around forty cows, were dead,” wrote Roxane St-Pierre in an offense report during her visit on May 3, 2022.
The inspector from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ) described the situation as a “horrible scene”.
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In total, 49 animals were found dead in the barn located in Villeroy, a village near Highway 20 between Quebec and Drummondville.
“The stable was in a state of advanced unsanitary conditions,” she adds.
The Long Chemin farm in Villeroy where the animals were found lifeless.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY Lysanne Tremblay
The farm’s owners, Rosaire Ouellet and Lisa Dion, were convicted of five offenses and fined $35,000 last December for failing to take care of their animals.
This is the heaviest fine of its kind for the year 2022 and 2023, according to MAPAQ data.
Photo MAPAQ
Starved to death
The co-owner of Ferme du Long Chemin Rosaire Ouellet admitted to the inspector that he had “gradually stopped feeding them at the end of March”, more than a month before the inspection.
“We suspect that they died of starvation,” confirms an analysis carried out by the MAPAQ animal health laboratory, according to documents obtained under the law on access to information.
“We can conclude that we are dealing with an extremely serious case of neglect and cruelty towards animals,” we can read in the veterinary report from the MAPAQ inspection department.
Photo MAPAQ
Only two alive
Among the entire herd, only two cows were still alive, one of which was visibly unwell.
“At the sight of the dying cow, Mr. Rosaire Ouellet seemed surprised and seemed unaware that this cow was in agony,” writes inspector Roxane St-Pierre.
The animal was killed the same day.
The second cow was seized by MAPAQ a few days later.
Photo MAPAQ
Time to clean
The MAPAQ visited four times between May 3 and June 10, 2022 and the disposal of the dead animals had still not been made.
Mr. Ouellet told the inspector that he did everything to “try to convince himself to clean up, but left without doing so, due to lack of time.”
Finally, two companies were contracted to remove the bodies and dispose of them.
It was a denunciation to the Municipality which led the inspector to the farm. Municipal officials also alerted the Sûreté du Québec and the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA).
The farm has ceased operations since the violation.
The mayor of Villeroy, Roxane Laliberté, did not want to comment.
–With the collaboration of Charles Mathieu, Bureau of Investigation