Canada pushes on with ‘complete depopulation’ plan to cull 400 ostriches | Canada
Canada’s food inspection agency says it plans to begin the “total destruction” of hundreds of ostriches on a farm after the country’s top court refused to block the controversial cull.
The high court on Thursday said it would not take up a case that triggered a violent outcry from ranchers and protesters, as well as senior figures in the Trump administration who decried public health efforts as government overreach.
Universal Ostrich Farms near the British Columbia town of Edgewood was first ordered to cull about 400 birds in May over fears of an H5N1 bird flu outbreak, and authorities took control of the operation earlier this week. 69 birds have already died after the outbreak of a flu-like illness, but Canada’s supreme court on Wednesday decided to temporarily postpone the culling decision while it decides whether to hear the case.
Thursday’s ruling removed any legal impediments to initiating the killings.
US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lobbied Canadian officials and doctor and former TV host Mehmet Oz, appointed by Trump as director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, offered to move the birds to his farm in Florida. US billionaire John Catsimatidis also pleaded with the Canadian government to reverse the culling decision.
A growing row over ostriches and growing skepticism of the government post-pandemic has inspired protesters to descend on the farm, with many posting their frustrations on social media. In a livestream of the bird enclosure that the farm posts online, commenters often express skepticism about vaccines and demand more evidence that the birds are sick.
The case also permeated Canada’s federal politics. At the beginning of October, journalists twice asked Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre whether he supported the protesters. The Conservative Party leader declined to comment specifically on the issue, despite many in his party protesting the cull. He told reporters the matter had been “mishandled from the very beginning” but did not say the word “ostrich”.
Canada’s federal government says its food inspection agency is pursuing a “stigma” policy to limit the spread of bird flu. World Health Organization.
But animal advocacy groups have called on the agency to do more testing on animals to confirm they are infected. The herd has developed at least partial herd immunity against H5N1, the farm owners said, as the last bird flu death occurred on January 15, 2025, and the majority of survivors appear to be healthy or recovered. They also cast doubt on the extent and effectiveness of testing on birds.
On Thursday, the farm’s spokeswoman, Katie Pasitney, told media the agency was “killing” healthy birds.
“They’re prehistoric animals that have survived for millions of years, but they won’t survive the Canadian Food Inspection Agency,” he said. Dave Bilinski, the company’s co-owner, said he was “afraid that, in my opinion, there would be no justice.”
But the federal court found that allowing the birds to survive could lead to bird flu spreading to other animals, the poultry industry or humans.
The agency did not say when it plans to begin culling the birds.
The 2016 CFIA guidance, obtained under freedom of information laws, says ostriches can be killed by a variety of methods; The preferred one is lethal injection, which requires three people: one holds the bird sitting on its back, one holds its head, and the other injects the drug. Staff may also use gas or break the birds’ necks. Members of the agency can only shoot birds “as a last resort” if there is a “skilled marksman” in the field.
Shortly after the court ruling, inspectors began placing more equipment and floodlights around a large hay bale enclosure near the back of the ostrich pen, according to the Canadian Press.
