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2h ago

RCMP Escort CFIA to B.C. Ostrich Farm as Search Warrants Clear Way for Cull

Courts cleared the operation following warnings the flock could silently spread a novel H5N1 strain.

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A sign calling for the protection of ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farms is displayed at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens

Overview

  • Police say they are supporting Canadian Food Inspection Agency officers at Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, B.C., under lawful authority to execute search warrants.
  • Videos from the site show a convoy of police and waste-disposal trucks, and at least one person being taken away in handcuffs as protesters remain on the property.
  • The CFIA ordered about 400 ostriches destroyed after a December 2024 avian flu outbreak that killed 69 birds, citing risks of asymptomatic shedding and reservoir formation.
  • The farm lost in Federal Court and at the Federal Court of Appeal, with Justice Gerald Heckman denying a further stay; the owners have until Oct. 3 to seek Supreme Court leave.
  • U.S. commentator Chris Sanders has offered ranch space and transport to relocate the birds, and earlier appeals came from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, but the agency has not disclosed the timing of any action.