Pig Farmer Gets Lifetime Ban

Friday, 27 April 2018 07:24

Heavy restrictions on his future as a farmer, Benjamin Stein of Tavistock had his day in court on Thursday.

OXFORD COUNTY - A local farmer received heavy fines and restrictions on farming in the future.

After pleading guilty to four counts of animal abuse charges, 28 year old Benjamin Stein was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Originally from Norfolk County, Stein now from Tavistock will also be on probation for two years, and be subjected to unscheduled OSPCA visits for the next 10 years.

More importantly, he received lifetime ban on owning or caring for animals. The restriction includes animals for farming, however the judge later said that Stein was allowed to have domestic animals as pets.

Kitchener-Waterloo Animal Save's Mo Markham was in the court room yesterday and would have liked a more harsh sentence in court yesterday.

"The problem is two fold, the species that's inherent in our system, and the laws that allow people to own animals and do what ever they want with them, he felt like he could do what ever he wanted with these animals because he owns them, I don't believe that this man should be trusted with any animals ever again."

Over 11,000 signatures were gathered in a petition spearheaded by the K-W Save Organization in an effort to have Stein face harsh penalties and receive a lifetime ban inclusive of all animals, not just livestock.

Markham feels that considering the history that in total over 2,700 hogs dies while in his care Stein should have been given the stiffest penalties. Markham said it's unfortunate that when the first 1,200 pigs died from a gas leak, Stein wasn't held responsible as the deaths were deemed a farming accident.

The group, which rallies for animal rights in Canada feels that the animals in this case never had a chance.

"All of these animals who's lives were destroyed, they feel pain, they feel hunger they feel terror. All of that happened to thousands of animals in his care, and the system needs to be changed drastically to prevent anything like this happening again in the future."

Last year, Stein was reported to have neglected and starved about 1,500 pigs at his farm near Frogmore. It is this incident that Stein pled guilty to four counts of animal abuse charges in.