Canadian ostrich saga that captivated RFK Jr ends as birds culled

[ad_1] Nadine Yousif Senior Canada reporter

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2bce/live/3eec14d0-bbfb-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Aaron Hemens /The Canadian Press via AP A group of ostrich supporters, in rain gear, hold hands and cry" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Aaron Hemens /The Canadian Press through AP The ostriches have attracted help from far and vast

The arrival of males in hazmat fits spelled the tip for greater than 300 ostriches in British Columbia.

Their destiny was the topic of a months-long authorized battle in Canada that attracted an unlikely forged of supporters, together with an American grocery billionaire, Canadian anti-Covid mandate activists and US Well being Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Dr Mehmet Oz, a celeb physician and member of Trump's administration, even provided to undertake the birds - however to no avail.

On Thursday night, gunshots rang out from the hay bale enclosure the place the birds have been corralled. Katie Pasitney, whose household owns the farm, advised the BBC on Friday morning that the ostriches have been killed in a single day.

Meals inspection officers have since confirmed that the cull was carried out.

"Disgrace on you Canada," mentioned Pasitney earlier in a tearful video posted to her Fb.

"The world is watching."

Ostrich cull drew criticism

The ostriches have been ordered to be culled late final 12 months after two had examined constructive for the avian flu, or H5N1, following an outbreak that killed 69.

House owners of the farm, which had raised the ostriches for slaughter however used them for medical analysis lately, had exhausted all authorized choices to cease the Canadian Meals Inspection Company's (CFIA) order, with the battle reaching all the way in which to the Supreme Court docket of Canada.

The highest court docket dismissed the case on Thursday morning, successfully permitting the cull to go forward. Decrease courts had sided with federal officers, ruling they're performing fairly inside their mandate to guard public well being.

Dozens had gathered at Common Ostrich Farms on Thursday afternoon to protest the ostriches' imminent execution. "You sick parasites, you'll burn in hell," one in all them yelled.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/da16/live/4ecd05d0-bbfb-11f0-ae46-bd64331f0fd4.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Aaron Hemens/The Canadian Press via AP Karen Espersen, her daughter, Katie Pasitne, and an ostrich stand behind a chain-linked fence cordoned off with yellow police tape" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Aaron Hemens/The Canadian Press through AP Karen Espersen (centre), the co-owner of Common Ostrich Farms, speaks with supporters alongside her daughter, Katie Pasitney

The birds have change into an unlikely political image, with many arguing the Canadian authorities was overreaching its authority by ordering the cull.

It has led to rising tensions within the city of Edgewood, British Columbia, the place the farm is positioned. Local businesses told media they needed to get the Royal Canadian Mounted Police concerned after run-ins with the birds' supporters, who had setup camp on the farm.

Culls like this are sometimes performed with out fanfare, a part of a broad mandate Canadian meals inspection officers need to curb the unfold of dangerous viruses. However this case has stood out for the quantity of consideration it has drawn at residence and overseas, notably from members of the Trump administration, like Kennedy and Dr Oz, who's in command of overseeing Medicaid and Medicare within the US.

Though neither have jurisdiction in Canada, each have spoken out to try to save the birds.

Against this, the response from prime Canadian officers, together with Prime Minister Mark Carney and different federal leaders, has been largely muted.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/e3b8/live/a50e1b60-bb23-11f0-ba75-093eca1ac29b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Universal Ostrich Farms/Facebook Image shows ostriches at the farm" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Common Ostrich Farms/Fb Canada's meals inspectors ordered that the birds be culled in December after an avian flu outbreak on the farm

The farm's loudest advocate south of the border is New York Metropolis billionaire and Republican megadonor John Catsimatidis, a self-described animal lover who on Thursday referred to as for a "thorough investigation" into the saga. He prompt that the US Division of Justice ought to take up the probe if Canada refuses.

Mr Catsimatidis' involvement dates again to early Might, when Ms Pasitney referred to as right into a radio present hosted by him to plead their case.

"The Canadian authorities desires our farm killed off of two checks," she advised him, "although they're totally wholesome and doing amazingly effectively."

Moved by the birds' plight, the billionaire enlisted figures within the Trump administration to take up the trigger.

Later that Might, Kennedy met with Canadian officers to attempt to cease the cull.

He pitched a collaboration on a long-term research of the ostriches to see if they'd developed immunity to the avian flu. "There may be important worth in finding out this inhabitants," Kennedy later wrote in a letter to Canadian officers, as an alternative of the "indiscriminate" killing of the flock.

Dr Oz provided to relocate the ostriches to his Florida property, although the farm homeowners refused. "We wish to hold this in Canada," Ms Pasitney advised the CBC on the time.

However just some days after the assembly with Kennedy, officers advised the Canadian Press they might nonetheless go forward with the "humane depopulation" of the flock.

In July, Kennedy, Dr Oz and Mr Catsimatidis took the matter to the very prime, pleading with Prime Minister Carney to make a "joint public assertion" in help of the farm with them.

Carney has not spoken publicly concerning the situation.

His justice minister Sean Fraser did converse on Thursday, nevertheless, telling reporters that he's "happy to see" the highest court docket's dismissal of the case.

"It is vital that the minister of agriculture and CFIA are capable of defend the well being of the final Canadian public and the meals we eat," Fraser mentioned.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/281b/live/09fe2920-bbe2-11f0-8252-53776b9338e4.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz speaks in the Oval Office during an event about weight-loss drugs at the White House in Washington, DC on November 6, 2025. He is speaking at a podium that features the seal of the President of the United States. His hair is short and grey, and he is wearing a black suit with a red tie." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photos A cross-border political trigger

Kennedy and Dr Oz - proponents of the Make America Wholesome Once more motion - and Mr Catsimatidis might seem to be unlikely allies of a small ostrich farm in rural British Columbia. However their causes do overlap.

The farm's homeowners have regularly accused Canadian officers of overstepping their rights. They've attracted the help of Canadian anti-Covid mandate activists like Tamara Lich, who led the "Freedom Convoy" that occupied Ottawa through the peak of the pandemic, and fundraised for the birds' defence.

In the meantime, Kennedy has criticised government-mandated public well being measures, like vaccine necessities.

He has expressed curiosity in utilizing the birds to check pure immunity to avian flu, moderately than observe the CFIA's "stamping-out" protocols, which align with these of the World Well being Group — a UN company that has been criticised by each Kennedy and President Donald Trump.

"It's a bit wild that US cupboard members are placing out public feedback about it," mentioned Jeremy Snyder, a professor and public well being knowledgeable at Simon Fraser College in British Columbia.

"But it surely's not stunning," he mentioned, including that the controversy has been the best draw for these advocating in opposition to authorities overreach, which embrace vaccine sceptics who imagine that "massive pharma and large authorities try to take over our lives".

The CFIA has defended their insurance policies in a number of statements, writing that the intention is to guard public and animal well being, in addition to Canada's billion-dollar poultry trade.

BC Conservative MP Scott Anderson, a supporter of the farm, criticised what he characterised as a "poorly executed operation".

"This operation has price Canadians tens of millions of {dollars}, a whole lot of hours of RCMP extra time, and has turned the as soon as peaceable city of Edgewood into one thing that appears like a science fiction film set that includes Space 51," Anderson mentioned.

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