In a tragic conclusion to an event that captured the attention of the global public, over 300 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia were dramatically shot after two of the birds tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, despite owners exhausting legal appeals.
Additionally, the case drew global outrage, with supporters including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, and billionaire John Catsimatidis advocating studies on immunity or relocation.
Katie Pasitney, the Canadian farm owner, slammed her own woke government for the culling. “Shame on you Canada…The world is watching,” she noted, “You sick parasites, you will burn in hell.” Additionally, the farm took their case to court, where they argued “Disposing of approximately 400 ostriches would cause irreparable harm due to the destruction of ‘rare and valuable poultry genetics’ and the loss of a specialized research-based business.”
Fighting back against the woke Canadian government, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued his case in a letter. “There is significant value in studying this population… instead of the ‘indiscriminate’ killing of the flock,” RFK wrote.
Building on this point, the popular politician said, 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…”
When dramatic footage of the birds being shot was posted to social media, users were outraged. “WARNING: GRAPHIC. Canada SLAUGHTERS hundreds of ostriches over avian flu. Flu was detected at Universal Ostrich Farms last December. Farm owners say birds were HEALTHY with ‘herd immunity’ — all SHOT dead,” a post read.
In the comments under this post, conservatives were outraged. One woman noted, “Unforgivable massacre This carnage should never have happened so unnecessary!! It had been almost a year and most of the birds were still alive if they were infected they reached herd immunity and should have been humanely studied.”
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However, soulless bureaucrats, such as Sean Fraser, the Minister of Justice, took a different approach. “It’s important that the minister of agriculture and CFIA are able to protect the health of the general Canadian public and the food we consume,” he said.
Likewise, CFIA claimed, “Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to avian influenza to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist… It would increase the possibility of reassortment or mutation, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife. This could also increase the human health risk.”
However, BC Conservative MP Scott Anderson was not convinced. He stated, “This operation has cost Canadians millions of dollars, hundreds of hours of RCMP overtime, and has turned the once peaceful town of Edgewood into something that looks like a science fiction movie set featuring Area 51.”
Even after the ruling, Katie Pasitney wanted to keep up the fight to set a precedent. “Even if a cull of their birds goes ahead, they will continue to fight to change the CFIA’s ‘stamping-out’ policy, in which every bird in a flock infected by avian flu is killed,” she said.
Watch video footage from the farm before the government killed the birds here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video