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Canadian Court Gives Vet House Arrest

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

A Canadian veterinarian is now under house arrest for making false written statements.

The Ontario Court of Justice in Woodstock found Dr. Brian Hill guilty of a global count of violating section 35(1) of Canada's Health of Animals Act.

Dr. Hill received a 12-month conditional sentence, which is resulting in nine months of house arrest.

An investigation followed by a complaint by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found inconsistencies in the information Dr. Hill provided to the complainant, Holstein Canada, and to the CFIA.

The information appeared to misrepresent the numbers of embryos collected from the complainant's cows and the sires used for fertilization.

The investigation found that between January 2006 and December 2007, Dr. Hill made false written statements in 103 Veterinary Certificates to six veterinary inspectors regarding 7,670 embryos he exported.

This is contrary to section 35(1) of the Health of Animals Act, which states that no person shall obstruct or hinder or make any false or misleading statement either orally or in writing to an analyst, inspector, or officer who is performing duties or functions under the Act or its regulations.

CFIA is responsible or enforcement of the Health of Animals Act and Canada's other food safety laws.

Dr. Hill's is the third conviction announced by CFIA his year.  Earlier in the month, CFIA announced that Try Canada Meats Inc. and Perfection Packers Inc. had been fined $24,000 each for violations of the Meat Inspection and Food and Drugs Acts.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on January 24, 2010 (boomark / email).