Gunshots Rang Out In The Middle Of The Night

The cool Canadian night erupted in gunfire. Professional marksmen loaded with rifles and ammunition moved in on the target – a farm in British Columbia.

While this sounds like a large drug bust, it’s not. Instead, this harrowing scene describes an ostrich flock culling by the Canadian government, specifically the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Between 300 and 400 ostriches were executed after a heated and protracted court battle. The Supreme Court of Canada made the final decision: it would not hear an appeal by the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia. Then, gunman showed up, unannounced, in the middle of the night and opened fire. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) accompanied the gunman, in case there was any trouble.

The shooting went on for hours.

Why Were The Birds Culled?

In December 2024, avian flu hit the flock. The CFIA received an anonymous tip that the farm had an active H5N1 outbreak. Anonymous tip, eh? The flu had apparently killed 30 birds in three weeks. In total, some 70 birds died of it, but hundreds survived, and no humans were reported to have any symptoms whatsoever.

After all, this entire time the farm remained quarantined under the Health of Animals Act. No outbreaks in sight, and no human transmission reported. But a year later, they still killed the birds. Were they even tested again before they were shot? The owners say only 2 tests were conducted in the nearly year-long saga.

Culling is the official policy, and sadly the industry standard, for measuring “deadly outbreaks” of the H5N1 avian flu. Typically, birds are killed using carbon dioxide gas in an enclosed space, but the ostriches were shot in the open air. The CFIA said shooting the birds was the most appropriate and humane option. But was it? Or were they trying to maximize pain to the farmers who had been fighting the case for nearly a year?

Not all the birds died instantly. Witnesses say many ostriches were left injured and crying out through the night. The CFIA returned at dawn and decapitated those still alive. It sounds more like a blood sacrifice than a humane culling.

The farm is now out of business, now that all the birds are dead. The Canadian government is supposed to be compensated up to $2,100 US dollars for each bird killed, but since the farmers didn’t kill the birds themselves, it is unclear whether they will receive the money. Did the Canadian government just add insult to injury by sending marksmen in to save money? It sure sounds like it.

Culling is also called “stamping out” and it has been used over the past year to deal with avian flu outbreaks. Millions of poultry have been culled since 2024. Last week, we did an update on bird flu. All this to protect people, supposedly, yet so few cases of bird flu have even been reported in Americans.

Ostrich Genetic Research

The CFIA says they stand firm in their decision because the ostriches may have been sold as meat. Ostrich meat is a lean, high-protein alternative to beef, with a mild flavor and low fat content. It’s rich in iron, zinc, and B vitamins, making it a nutritious choice for health-conscious eaters. The texture is tender and similar to steak, often used in steaks, burgers, and jerky.

The owners say the birds were absolutely not used for meat. In the past, they did sell ostrich products like meat and oils extracted from the bird’s livers, but they had to change their business during the pandemic because the plants that process ostrich products were shut down. Instead, the owners say they were collaborating with researchers to study ostrich antibodies and genetics.

But the CFIA disputes the farm’s claims of research; the farm could not substantiate its claims and could not produce the paperwork that CFIA wanted to see. Further, the CFIA said that the farm lacked the proper facilities to do controlled research or active clinical trials. Note that CFIA couldn’t substantiate that the birds were definitely going to be sold as meat, either.

The culled birds were decades old. Ostriches live about 60 years in captivity, and over 100 years in the wild.

Both RFK Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS Director, proposed to save the birds. In May, Kennedy tried to collaborate with Canadian officials to perform additional tests on the birds, but the Canadians never responded. Dr. Oz tried next, offering to relocate the birds to his ranch in Florida. The Canadians said they could not issue an export permit given that the culling order was working its way through the courts.

Chickens, ducks and quail are used more routinely for widespread research, but ostriches are sometimes studied for very specific biological traits. Agricultural research in ostriches is usually done to study egg production or improve meat production. Ostrich breeding is studied as is the birds’ resistance to disease.

Ostriches are studied because they are one of the oldest diverging lineage of birds, the Paleognaths, and are also the largest living bird. As such, they are useful for understanding bird evolution and flightless species.

Ostrich immune molecules like antibodies and defensins are studied, but this is a very specialized area of research. Ostriches indeed have very interesting genetics. They are ratites, as are emu, kiwi and cassowary, and as such their DNA helps scientist reconstruct ratite evolution. Ostriches have a very large genome for a bird; they have more repetitive DNA and slower mutation rates. As such, they have retained their ancestral elements and this makes them ideal for comparative genomics studies with other ratites and bird species.

Ostriches do have unique immune systems. The birds have very unique endocrine systems and growth-related genes. They have a strong innate immunity and unusual antimicrobial peptides that likely mean quite different disease resistance patterns. This could mean that most of the flock resisted the H5N1, but the Canadian government killed them anyway.

The Bottom Line: Power & Control

Granted, farms in British Columbia have had significant bouts with the bird flu since 2022. Nearly 9 million commercial (and backyard) birds were killed as a result, according to CBC reports. Canada as a whole has culled 14.5 million birds nationally, so that means over half were located in BC.

Still, did the Canadians really try hard to remedy this situation? Did they truly exhaust all reasonable options? It seems not. This is especially evident when it was reported that neither the mounted police nor the marksmen wore any kind of protective gear, given the “highly contagious” birds.

Eyewitnesses saw the RCMP sifting through debris with bare hands to load blood-soaked carcasses into bins sent to an undisclosed disposal site. Keep in mind the operation, which cost Canadians millions of dollars, was done to protect the Canadian public. Yeah, right.

What does seem much more plausible is that the government did not appreciate the huge political battle this became. They didn’t like the spotlight, and they certainly didn’t like the attention the issue attracted. The farm and friends of the farm had a huge social media presence to keep the world apprised of the birds’ fate, and the government certainly didn’t appreciate that.

The world’s eyes are on Canada with many wondering what the hell has happened there. The ostrich saga has resonated across the world. Eyes are also on Canada for having the world-leading human euthanasia program called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), a program that permits euthanasia for non-terminal conditions. Canada will further expand MAiD in 2027. What the HELL is going on in Canada?

One thing we know for sure – the ostrich debacle is yet another demonstration of heavy-handed government cloaked in the name of science policy.

In the end, the farmers paid with their farm, and the birds paid with their lives. Ostriches are ratites, prehistoric animals that scientists claim have survived millions of years. But the birds couldn’t survive the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.