AR-News: (CA) Human remains fear in B.C. Meat

[Barry Kent MacKay]

The Toronto Star:  March 11, 2004

Human remains fear in B.C. meat

`Can't rule out' DNA in Pickton pigs 

Family of missing women appalled

DANIEL GIRARD
WESTERN CANADA BUREAU

VANCOUVER-Meat for public consumption from the pig farm of accused serial
killer Robert William Pickton may have contained human remains, police and
health officials say. 

"There is the potential that some meat that was produced and perhaps
packaged on the farm may have been cross-contaminated with human DNA," RCMP
Corporal Cate Galliford of the missing women's task force told reporters
last night. 

Pickton, who is facing 15 counts of first-degree murder in connection with
women missing from Vancouver's drug-laden downtown eastside, raised and
slaughtered pigs as part of his work at the farm in Port Coquitlam, about 35
kilometres east of the city. 

He was arrested in February, 2002, and has been in custody ever since. 
Police investigators have examined every building of the ramshackle property
and employed archeology students specializing in bone fragments to sift its
soil. 

So far, DNA of 31 women has been connected to the site. Police have said
that Pickton is expected to be charged in the murders of seven other women
whose DNA was found. 

Galliford refused to use the word remains, instead referring to DNA. 
She also said that there was no suggestion the potentially contaminated meat
was ever widely distributed. 

"We must make it very clear that there is no evidence that meat produced at
the farm ever received wide distribution or was available through retail
outlets," Galliford said. 

Details of the case against Pickton, 54, are protected by a sweeping
publication ban. But police have confirmed that human remains were found in
their extensive search. 

Galliford said police contacted the B.C. Centre for Disease Control after
discovering that "the circle of people who may have received meat was
somewhat larger than we originally anticipated." 

Dr. David Patrick, director of Communicable Disease Epidemiology, said
officials at his facility were asked if they would be able to "do some
testing for some human pathogens in some product." 

British Columbia's medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, issued an
alert asking anyone who might still have frozen pork products from Pickton's
farm to return those products to police. 

He told a news conference in Victoria that the meat, packaged in "extremely
unsanitary conditions" at the farm, was distributed to friends and
associates of Pickton and also eaten in various forms, including barbecues. 

"As a result of information that we recently received from the RCMP, we have
reason to believe that there is a strong possibility that some of the
product from the Pickton farms - and how much the RCMP do not know -may
still be sitting in some people's freezer in the Lower Mainland," he told
reporters. 

Kendall said Pickton apparently had a habit of slaughtering pigs, wrapping
up the meat and distributing it to associates and friends. The farm's
unlicensed slaughter facility was very unsanitary, he said. 

"We know from the risk assessment that was conducted by Health Canada that
any meat that might remain in people's storage does pose some quantifiable
risk to human health," he said. 

The risks include disease-carrying bacteria and parasites, he said, but
added cooking would have minimized the danger. 

The news conferences held by the police and Kendall were hastily called
after news of the disturbing conclusions leaked out to the media. 

Galliford prefaced her remarks at the Vancouver event by apologizing to the
families of the missing women for having to hear the details from reporters
rather than police. She said officers were going to make it public later in
the week after telling the women's loved ones. 

Families members were stunned and sickened by yesterday's revelations. 
"The reality is that everybody knows pigs will eat everything except teeth,"
said Lynn Frey, whose stepdaughter Marnie is among the seven additional
women Pickton is expected to be charged with killing before his case goes to
trial in the fall or early 2005. 

"So, does that mean my daughter has been eaten by a pig and then somebody
bought that pig?" she said in an interview from Campbell River on Vancouver
Island. "It's just sick." 

"But nothing about this really surprises me any more." 

Frey, who along with her husband Rick has been an outspoken critic of the
police handling of the case, was also incensed that she heard details of
this latest, deeply disturbing development from the news media rather than
police. 

"It just adds to the indignity of this whole thing," Frey said. 

"It's so ludicrous it makes me sick to my stomach," said Marilyn Kraft,
whose stepdaughter, Cindy Feliks, is also one of the seven additional women
Pickton is expected to face charges of killing. "I've got a pork roast in
the freezer and I have no idea where it's from - B.C., Alberta, or
Saskatchewan. What am I supposed to do with it, throw it out?" 

Frey questioned why there hasn't been a thorough Canadian Food Inspection
Agency investigation of the case. 

Marc Richard, a spokesperson for the agency, said he was told an
announcement was planned for release today. 

With files from Canadian Press 

Additional articles by Daniel Girard
_______________________________________


Barry Kent MacKay
Canadian Office
Animal Protection Institute 
www.api4animals.org