No doubt about it, the ostrich is a strange, comical bird. Certainly humans often ridicule Its appearance and gait, not to mention its intelligence, and its image is frequently employed by political cartoonists. Only a few days ago American president Donald Trump was portrayed as an ostrich with his head in the sand, in a cartoon about the Russia/Ukraine conflict that undoubtedly drew more than a few laughs.
However there is nothing remotely funny about the bizarre tale unfolding in Canada over a flock of 350 ostriches running loose on a farm in the BC interior. Simply put, the birds in question should no longer be among the living, having been designated by authorities for a cull because of their exposure to avian (bird) flu.
The fact the birds are still breathing is the ominous result of a blatant disregard for government regulations designed to protect public health and safety, uninformed public opinion and civic protest running amok. In many respects, this misguided outbreak of organized resistance to legitimate authority can be compared to the infamous Truckers’ Convoy saga that occupied Ottawa for weeks in the winter of 2021. However in the case of these ostriches the potential dangers to human health and safety are considerably greater.
Unbeknownst to many Canadians there has been a global bird flu pandemic in effect since 2022, with an estimated 6 waves hitting the North American domestic poultry industry, notably chickens and turkeys, over the past three years. The virus – believed to originate in colonies of wild migratory birds such as ducks and geese – spreads rapidly and widely, striking most often in spring and fall. There is no vaccine or antidote. To date the only recommended and scientifically proven method to halt the spread of the highly contagious pathogen is to cull the entire flock in locations where there have been infected birds.
Although bird flu has not yet been considered a threat to humans, there have been some isolated cases of serious illness and even death among workers in the domestic poultry industries. One such case, widely reported, occurred in BC in the fall of 2024. The victim was hospitalized for 3 months before their eventual recovery and release. In the United States, the virus has alarmingly spread to dairy cattle, one of the few known examples of transmission to domesticated mammals, although seals and mink have also been known to contract the deadly virus. (Which leads many scientists to question whether humans can be far behind….)
In Canada the management of bird flu has been scientifically regulated and managed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, (CFIA) whose mandate is to “safeguard food, animals and plants, which enhances the health and well-being of Canada’s people, environment and economy.”[i]
In a normal universe, this widely respected agency would be seen as a symbol of the positive role government can play in protecting its citizens. Yet somehow the renegade contingent of malcontents supporting the BC ostriches have managed to paint CFIA agents as heartless and intransigent, pigheadedly refusing to recognize what the birds’ supporters argue are special circumstances such as acquired “herd immunity” and the possibility that the surviving flock could provide important new scientific evidence.
But experts have dismissed these arguments as completely unfounded, while the CFIA has provided a clear evidence-based rationale for its policy. “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 increases 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”[ii] After a nearly four-year battle with COVID-19, one would have thought few Canadians would fail to see the ominous threat the birds could pose.
The timeline of this fiasco is even more amazing considering the context. Some 60,000 chickens were culled in 2022 on commercial farms in Abbotsford, BC alone, as were some 9,000 turkeys in 2023. More than 8.7 million birds in total have been culled over the past three years in BC, more than half of the national total. And for those concerned with practical implications of the virus, it is worth noting that these bird flu outbreaks in BC resulted in a significant shortage of turkeys, and greatly increased prices for those that were available, over the Thanksgiving to Christmas holiday period in 2023 and 2024.
Many affected farmers have expressed dismay and anxiety over their own culls in terms of their personal financial costs and the uncertainty they have faced, even though the government reimburses them for culled animals at the going commercial rate. (In the case of the ostriches, a court has proposed the federal government provide compensation of $3,000 per bird, or a total of roughly $1.2 million.) But none have suggested the system is unscientific, unnecessary or unfair. On the contrary, they have accepted it as a necessary element of public safety and ultimately of economic advantage, since uncertainty over the safety of Canadian food products would affect the entire agricultural industry and lead to plummeting foreign sales. [iii] (Poultry exports currently total some $1.76 billion.)
Interestingly the basic facts of the Edgewood ostrich case are not in dispute. In early December 2024 some 25 to 30 ostriches died of what the farmer later described as a “flu-like virus” over a three-week period. The farmer did not notify the CFIA as required. Instead, it was only after receiving an anonymous tip that many birds had died that the CFIA intervened, issuing a quarantine order on December 28. More ostriches died the next day, and a total of 69 birds perished in less than a month. On December 31 the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance network reported that samples taken from two of the dead birds had tested positive for the H5N1 virus. The agency also noted that the virus strain was among the most virulent the lab had ever tested. As a result, following standard and well-established procedure the CFIA issued a cull notice the same day and ordered all affected birds and related materials to be disposed of by a deadline of February 1, 2025. The farmers ignored the quarantine order and made no preparations for a cull. Instead, on January 4, they submitted a request to the CFIA for an exemption, based on their unsubstantiated arguments outlined above. On January 10 the CFIA rejected the request. On January 15 the last of the 69 birds died.
At this point the farmers launched a major social media campaign to attract public support. Financial donations began to pour in, enabling the farmers to engage a lawyer and pursue expensive legal options. On January 31 the Federal Court responded to an appeal launched by the farm by issuing a stay of the cull while it considered the issue. While the court deliberated, the farmers continued to promote their cause through social media, hosting numerous widely publicized events with increasing numbers of supporters attending in person at the ostrich ranch.
But on May 13 the farm lost its application for judicial review, as the Federal Court ruled the CFIA decisions were both “reasonable” and “made in a fair manner.”[iv]
Not to be deterred, the farm held a planned “Ostrich Fest” on May 16-18. Hundreds of supporters attended the Victoria Day event, complete with campers, barbeques and local entertainers. In the next few days the farm owners also revealed that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr had written to the CFIA president requesting the cull be called off and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Director of the American Centre for Medicare and Medicaid, had written directly to the farmers offering to transport the birds to his ranch in Florida. Soon news articles on the case began to appear in Britain, Australia and other international locales.
Meanwhile their financial resources allowed the farm owners to appeal the Federal Court rejection to the Federal Court of Appeal on May 31, a move which resulted in yet another interim stay order on the cull. And in July, while the court case dragged on, the farm organized another mass support event/concert, which featured numerous well-known speakers including Trucker Convoy organizer Tamara Lich.
Not surprisingly, the widespread media coverage and lengthy delays resulting from all of the legal procedures also ensured that the case would come to the notice of political actors and voluntary organizations. In many cases they were pressured by various supporters of the ostrich farm. Local Conservative MP Scott Anderson (Vernon-Lake Country- Monashee) and neighbouring Conservative MP Mel Arnold (Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies) both raised the issue in the House of Commons, demanding the Liberal government withdraw the cull order. While their interventions could hardly be considered surprising, the statements of BC’s NDP premier Dave Eby caused considerable consternation among experts and informed observers. Evidently bowing to political pressure, Eby declared at one point that he had been “frustrated by the actions of the CFIA” and while he “understood the need to contain avian flu, there’s a lack of ability to evaluate on a case-by-case basis.”[v] Adding insult to injury, the representative of one animal rights organization actually argued that there was now no point in implementing the cull because so much time had passed since the original order that it would hardly be worthwhile.
When the Federal Court of Appeal finally ruled on September 12 that the cull must be allowed to proceed, the farmers immediately called on their supporters to come and block the CFIA agents from entering the area. As they posted on their Facebook site, “We need people to come and surround our farm so that the CFIA cannot come kill these beautiful healthy animals.” In the end the agents required an RCMP escort to enter the farm, a situation which the RCMP took great pains to stress was one in which their only role was to provide protection for the CFIA agents and they had no involvement in the actual cull. On September 15 the CFIA again refused a request from the farm for an exception, and the Federal Court of Appeal refused to authorize another stay in order to give the farmers time to launch a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court.
Undaunted, they found another way to gain time. By September 20 the CFIA agents, armed with a search warrant, managed to take control of the farm after the RCMP had briefly arrested two of the farmers for resisting orders to vacate the premises. But the agents’ progress was then impeded by a series of intimidation tactics, undertaken by supporters at the instigation of the farmers on their website, and directed at various local companies hired by the CFIA to facilitate the cull. A trucking company engaged by the CFIA responded to harassment and verbal threats by issuing a public statement that it had no knowledge of the purpose the trucks had been rented for, and demanded they be returned. Several other businesses followed suit, refusing to provide assistance to the CFIA for fear of increasingly violent protest action. Hotels where the agents and RCMP officers have been staying in the closest town, Vernon, have also received threats. One hotel manager indicated his staff are receiving 50-60 hostile calls per hour. [vi]
Even more concerning is the erroneous targeting of a Vancouver-based company by one of the ranchers in a posting on the farm Facebook page. The company responded in a statement posted online, where it declared it has been the subject of “false and misleading information,” adding that it is not providing services of any kind at Universal Ostrich Farms.
“The false allegations of involvement have resulted in Nucor Environmental Solutions team members, including their family members, being inundated with false accusations and threatened — including death threats…For the safety of our employees and families, we ask anyone who is posting false allegations regarding Nucor Environmental Solutions’ involvement to remove the false allegations immediately.”[vii]
At the time of writing, the farmers have managed to request the Supreme Court consider their case, and on September 24 it too granted an interim stay while it considers the request. However the Court’s order indicates it will consider their leave to appeal the Federal Appeal Court decision on an expedited basis. In the meantime it also directed the CFIA to maintain custody of the birds, stressing that the farmers must not interfere with federal oversight pending a decision on their application. The agency must file any response by Oct. 3, with the farm allowed to reply within two days of that filing.
And so, some nine months after the December 31 cull order was issued, the birds are still alive and the farmers are still mounting a last-ditch effort to save them.[viii] And this bizarre case is now internationally known, damaging the government’s credibility, precisely because of the birds’ owners’ lengthy and unprecedented battle to prevent this cull. In short a situation which normally would have been resolved in days, or weeks at most, has now become an out-of-control circus and grist for any and all discontented protesters’ mills.
So what is different about this situation that has led to such an extraordinary result? First and foremost, the Edgewood farm operation is sufficiently small, (only 350 birds) and the rural community is sufficiently small (population 235) that the whole affair can be easily personalized for public consumption. Similarly the birds themselves are a curiosity and a public relations draw. In addition, the largely rural population of western Canada is well-known for its alienation from the national government, of which the CFIA is an obvious symbol, making it easier for the farmers to attract supporters on the ground. In addition, however, the failure of court proceedings at various levels to be expedited, in line with the urgency of the case, is cause for concern, a scenario addressed only in the final instance by the Supreme Court after the process had already been delayed for far too long.
But it is clearly the extensive and skillful use of social media by the farmers to promote their cause that has been at the core of this exceptional protest, aided and abetted by the existence of a small segment of the general population that has become disenchanted with government intervention as a result of pandemic restrictions and is now open to protests on almost any subject. The very presence of Tamara Lich at one of the ostrich rallies highlighted this phenomenon in spades.
Yet despite the widespread media attention and international coverage of the affair, the ostrich issue has not captured the attention of the majority of Canadians who are located in central Canada. If they are aware of it at all, they are inclined to dismiss it as an amusing but insignificant incident. This is a serious mistake. The details of how this travesty has evolved provide yet another cautionary tale for governments, regulators and public educators, in addition to reinforcing the increasingly dangerous role of social media in promoting disinformation and undermining democracy. We ignore the ostrich fiasco at our peril.
[i] https://inspection.canada.ca/en/about-cfia/organizational-structure/mandate
[iii] https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/with-87-million-birds-dead-bc-farmers-assess-avian-flu-toll-and-worry-about-whats-next/
[iv] https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/national-news/a-timeline-of-bc-ostrich-farms-battle-to-prevent-cull-of-400-birds-11216013
[v] https://vancouversun.com/news/supporters-converging-on-bc-universal-ostrich-farm-block-cull-400-birds
[vi] https://globalnews.ca/news/11450522/businesses-threatened-involvement-bc-ostrich-cull-death-threats/
[vii] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-ostrich-farm-harassment-complaints-1.7641886
[viii] https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/national-news/a-timeline-of-bc-ostrich-farms-battle-to-prevent-cull-of-400-birds-11216013
