Edgewood, British Columbia – Canada – Animal lovers are outraged following the slaughter of an estimated 400 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia. Government officials proceeded with the killings after the bird owners appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. The ostriches were shot by professional marksmen contracted with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The nightmare situation began in early December 2024 when H5N1 (avian flu) was detected in the flock. The outbreak claimed nearly 70 ostrich lives but the remaining birds in the flock remained healthy, prompting the farm owners to appeal culling the survivors.
Even U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appealed to the agency to spare the survivors from death. In a letter sent to government officials, he said that the birds could be studied to determine how they beat the deadly virus and apparently achieved herd immunity:
“We are respectfully requesting CFIA to consider not culling the entire flock of ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farm given that a proportion of these ostriches were infected with avian influenza (H5N1) last year, we believe there is significant value in studying this population, for several reasons.”
And Dr. Mehmet Oz offered to bring the survivors to his ranch in Florida. But government officials were undeterred in their quest to kill the hundreds of birds. Prior to the late-night cull, CFIA said:
“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be moving forward to complete depopulation and disposal measures as authorized by the Health of Animals Act and guided by the stamping out policy for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).”
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