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Canadian health authorities have used snipers to cull more than 300 ostriches on a farm in British Columbia over avian flu concerns, ending a year-long effort to save the birds by the farm’s owners and supporters who claimed the animals were “healthy”. The saga of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, BC, had become a cause célèbre in right-wing and anti-government circles online, and had even attracted the attention of members of Donald Trump’s administration including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed on Friday that it had culled the birds, which had been corralled into a makeshift enclosure of hay bales. Gunshots rang out on Thursday night, hours after the Supreme Court of Canada announced it would not hear an appeal of the cull by the farm’s owners. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) kept members of the public at bay, with shouts of “stop!” and “murderers!” as the cull of the quarantined animals proceeded, the National Post reported. “You’ll have to tell your children, ‘Why, daddy, why did you kill the ostriches?’” one woman taunted police, MSNBC reported. “Will you tell them you were ‘just following orders’?” Another man reportedly shouted, “You’re going to be culled!” “As part of its disease response policy, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has culled the ostrich population on a farm in Edgewood, British Columbia,” the CFIA said in a statement. “After consulting with experts experienced in managing ostrich disease outbreaks, the CFIA concluded that the most appropriate and humane option was to use professional marksmen in a controlled on-farm setting.” The agency added that “all depopulation activities were completed under CFIA veterinary supervision”. “This method is consistent with Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and American Veterinary Medical Association recommendations and may be used as required, particularly when other methods are impractical,” it said. Drone footage, shot by independent journalist Chris Dacey, showed the grim aftermath of the cull, with scores of dead ostriches seen inside the enclosure amid long blue tarpaulins. Some appeared to have their heads removed. “Everything about this is quite dystopian,” Dacey said in an interview with right-wing media outlet Rebel News. “Honestly I’ve seen a lot of things from police that I have a little trouble with, but here has been beyond the pale.” The CFIA said the operation was consistent with “all relevant provincial and federal animal welfare standards and required regulations and was designed to provide for the safety of CFIA staff, contractors and the public in the vicinity of the infected premises”. “The CFIA has now started the disposal stage of the disease response,” it said. The agency warned members of the public that under Canada’s Health of Animals Act it was an offence to “obstruct or hinder an analyst, inspector or officer who is performing duties or functions under this Act or the regulations as the CFIA completes its operation”. “Any such actions may result in enforcement measures or prosecution,” it said. Flying drones over the farm is also an offence, after Transport Canada declared the airspace restricted, the CFIA added. “Offences under the Aeronautics Act may result in administrative monetary penalties, fines or imprisonment,” it said. In an earlier statement announcing it would be going ahead with the “complete depopulation and disposal measure” under its “stamping out” policy, the CFIA noted that the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal “both determined that the CFIA acted reasonably and in a procedurally fair manner in its decision”. The farm’s owners had sought leave to appeal the August 21 decision by the Federal Court of Appeal, but were denied by the country’s highest court. The CFIA first issued the cull order in December last year after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) resulted in the deaths of 69 birds. Supporters insisted the remaining 330 animals were healthy, and may even hold potential for disease research — a claim echoed by Mr Kennedy, who weighed in on the case in May urging the Canadian government to reconsider. In a letter to the CFIA, Mr Kenney said the ostriches offer “potential to study both antibody levels and cellular immunity to help further our scientific understanding of the virus and the immune physiologic response”. But the CFIA said there was no evidence for the farm’s “unsubstantiated scientific research claims”. “In the case of the ostrich farm, the CFIA has not received any evidence of research activities, or the development of testing applications developed by the owners or their companies,” it said an October 31 statement. “The ostrich farm owners have never provided the CFIA with any information about their own research into the development of lateral flow testing using avian influenza antibodies, nor any information regarding preparing to launch a product of their own.” On Thursday, the CFIA insisted that its stamping out policy “aims to protect human health, animal health, and international trade access”. “Our disease response aims to protect both public and animal health, as well as minimise impacts on the $CA6.8 billion ($7.4 billion) domestic poultry industry, and the Canadian economy,” it said. “This supports Canadian families and poultry farmers whose livelihoods depend on maintaining international market access for $CA1.75 billion ($1.9 billion) in exports.” Katie Pasitney, the spokesperson for Universal Ostrich Farms, told CNN that the cull was “traumatising”. “There’s nothing professional or humane about putting almost 330 birds in a square pen in the dark of night and shooting at them,” she said. Amid increasingly heated rhetoric online, the CFIA had earlier said its members and contractors were receiving “ongoing threats of violence and death by apparent supporters of the ostrich farm”. “The CFIA is committed to the safety and security of its employees and contractors and continues to work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for onsite security,” it said.
