CFIA nabs Enderby abattoir

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced eight charges under the Health of Animals Act against Enderby farmer and meat processor Richard Yntema.

The Yntema family runs a small game farm and processing plant in the North Okanagan where they raise deer, wild boar and lamb. Since 2008, their abattoir Valley Wide Meats has processed livestock and other animals, including bison, cattle, deer, emu, goats, hogs, ostrich, water buffalo, sheep and rabbit.

CFIA alleges that Yntema fed animals specified risk material, which the CFIA defines as “the skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, palatine tonsils, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of cattle aged 30 months or older, as well as the distal ileum of cattle of all ages.”

CFIA further alleges that the farm fed meat or meat by-products to swine or poultry as well as animal parts or carcasses to livestock or poultry.

In addition, the charges allege that Yntema obstructed or hindered an inspector, and made a false or misleading statement to an inspector.

Yntema had his first court appearance on April 23 and is set to appear in provincial court in Salmon Arm on May 7.

The federal inspection agency has had previous run-ins with Yntema regarding the Health of Animals Act. In November 2020, he was in court for six charges of obstructing and hindering investigators and six charges of failing to provide relevant information to health inspectors about untagged animals that arrived for slaughter.

In June 2020 the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy visited Valley Wide Meats following neighbours’ complaints of birds dropping slaughter waste on their properties.  At that time, the ministry issued a penalty for failing to provide records on request.

In 2016, Yntema pleaded guilty and was fined $1,000 for failing to secure animals and the unlawful possession of live wildlife.

Yntema did not respond to an interview request before deadline. The BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food deferred questions to the CFIA, which was unavailable to comment before deadline.