Canada: Order To Cull More Than 400 Ostriches Over Bird Flu Fears Ruffles Feathers

Police person warned that nan increasing furore astir a Canadian ostrich workplace – fanned by animal authorities activists and salient friends of Donald Trump – has led to intimidation, harassment and decease threats against businesses successful a mini British Columbia town.

Universal Ostrich Farms, adjacent nan municipality of Edgewood, was ordered successful May to cull much than 400 birds, amid fears of an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu, and earlier this week officials seized power of nan business. Sixty-nine birds person already died aft nan outbreak of a flu-like illness, but connected Wednesday Canada’s ultimate tribunal issued an interim enactment connected nan cull bid arsenic it weighed whether to perceive nan case.

The cull bid has catalyzed a fierce protestation by nan workplace owners and protesters – arsenic good arsenic elder figures successful nan Trump administration, who person decried nan nationalist wellness effort arsenic authorities overreach.

Earlier this week, Chris Sanders, a blimpish commentator, said successful a Facebook video that he was offering his ranches successful Oklahoma, Texas and South Dakota arsenic a caller location for nan imperilled ostriches. Sanders’ connection follows lobbying by Robert F Kennedy Jr, nan US wellness secretary, and Mehmet Oz, a expert and erstwhile TV big appointed by Trump arsenic nan head of nan Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, to move nan birds to Oz’s ranch successful Florida.

Protest signs successful support of Universal Ostrich Farms connected 22 September 2025. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

Kennedy antecedently wrote a missive to nan president of Canada’s nutrient inspection agency successful May, asking nan workplace to beryllium spared from a planned cull. US billionaire John Catsimatidis has besides lobbied nan Canadian authorities to reverse its cull order.

The increasing statement complete nan ostriches – and a simmering post-pandemic skepticism of authorities – person inspired protesters to descend connected nan farm, pinch galore broadcasting their vexation connected societal media. Under a unrecorded watercourse of nan vertebrate enclosure posted online by nan farm, commenters often definitive skepticism towards vaccines and telephone for much impervious that nan birds are ill.

The business astatine Universal Ostrich Farms escalated connected Tuesday erstwhile co-owner Karen Espersen and her girl Katie Pasitney were arrested by RCMP officers for obstructing nutrient inspectors. Police person since erected a three-meter obstruction of hay bales and barred anyone from entering nan ostrich pen, which is now nether nan power of Canada’s nutrient inspection agency. Later that evening, immoderate of nan bales were group connected fire, but were soon extinguished.

The farm’s supporters person heckled constabulary astatine nan scene, while Pasitney appealed successful a Facebook video to officers to “stop nan massacre”. She has besides utilized nan farm’s Facebook page to knock section businesses providing services to nan Canadian nutrient inspection agency.

The RCMP said it had received complains of “threats, intimidation and harassment owed to nan dispute’”. One company, Nucor Environmental Solutions, posted connected its website that “false allegations of engagement person resulted successful … squad members, including their family members, being inundated pinch mendacious accusations and threatened – including decease threats”.

Canadian national authorities says nan nutrient inspection agency is pursuing a “stamping out” argumentation successful bid to limit nan dispersed of avian flu, a move successful statement pinch broader proposal from nan World Health Organization.

A Universal Ostrich Farms protagonist celebrates aft learning an interim enactment bid was granted delaying nan culling. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

The workplace owners and their supporters reason that because nan past vertebrate flu decease occurred connected 15 January 2025, pinch nan surviving mostly appearing patient aliases recovered, nan flock has developed astatine slightest partial herd immunity against H5N1. They person besides formed uncertainty connected nan scope and effectiveness of testing connected nan birds.

But successful a federal tribunal ruling from May, nan judge proceeding nan lawsuit recovered nutrient inspectors operated wrong their instruction erstwhile they ordered nan cull arsenic a measurement of preventing nan dispersed of disease. The judge besides recovered that allowing nan birds to stay live could lead to nan dispersed of avian influenza to different animals, nan poultry manufacture – aliases humans.

Andrew Fenton, a bioethicist astatine Dalhousie University says nan murkiness complete really nan birds are being utilized - aliases will beryllium utilized successful nan early - has implications for what benignant of wellness consequence nan flock poses to nutrient systems.

But a much divisive rhetoric that has emerged, 1 akin to nan anti-vaccine activity during nan coronavirus pandemic, threatens to undermine nationalist assurance successful nationalist wellness agencies.

“There is simply a consciousness successful immoderate of nan rhetoric that ‘government is nan bad guy’ and that it’s an individual fighting against a corrupt system. These are not adjuvant polarizations and leads to rather toxic guidance to bully religion efforts of that are trying to protect nan public,” said Fenton. “There’s an anti-science sentiment successful nan aerial astatine nan infinitesimal that’s becoming rather dangerous.”

But he said nan farmers’ petition that nan birds beryllium retested was “reasonable” fixed reports nan flock seems to beryllium comparatively patient and location person been nary deaths since January.

“To retest would beryllium a bully move for nan nutrient inspection agency because we can’t spend to fto spot successful nationalist wellness agencies erode,” he said. “We request to respect what they’re trying to do because nan nationalist wellness concerns they’re addressing are superior and real.”