Ostrich Cull in BC, 2025

[Navy_Pete]

View attachment 96717

That's a weird comparison; no one has had a butterfly infestation of a house that has caused H&S issues, and they don't pollinate anything. People regularly kill moths in their house, and those can be as cool looking as a lot of butterflies.

These ostriches were being raised as food stock, so just fancy oversized chickens, so people upset over this cull but couldn't care less about chicken farms that would have 10,000+ birds culled for avian flu control are a better comparison.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Why is that ironic?? (I'm trying to follow the conversation, but I too feel like I missed something)

During the 1st Capitol Seige cops in Ottawa backed off the protestors who sat there breaking laws for a month.

It's ironic that the same protestors now criticize police for backing off the Palestine protestors allowing them to break laws in peace (vandalism).

 

[CBH99]

So in my pea brain these birds had avian flu which I gather is highly contagious and could spread to other birds? Am I right?

So the ostriches had initially been bred for food, but the owners of the ranch started doing medical research on them a few years ago - that takes them out of the food system.

And they had been tested near daily for nearly 300 days, and had never tested positive for avian flu.

The ones that had tested positive for avian flu had already been culled quite some time ago

...

In my pea brain, I still don't get how killing a bunch of healthy ostriches that aren't sick and corralled in a seperate pen, and who hadn't ever tested positive despite extremely frequent testing - is going to somehow prevent the spread of avian flu

The birds that had tested positive were all kept in a seperate corrall & culled about a year ago. (The legal process has stretched this out by about a year)

So if there was going to be some sort of fallout from the birds that were sick, I imagine we would have seen some indication of that by now...??



But WTF do I know either? I'm certainly not a bird expert, nor a contagious disease expert, by any means

 

[OldSolduer]

I was not aware of that, Thanks for clarification

 

[Czech_pivo]

So the ostriches had initially been bred for food, but the owners of the ranch started doing medical research on them a few years ago - that takes them out of the food system.

And they had been tested near daily for nearly 300 days, and had never tested positive for avian flu.

The ones that had tested positive for avian flu had already been culled quite some time ago

...

In my pea brain, I still don't get how killing a bunch of healthy ostriches that aren't sick and corralled in a seperate pen, and who hadn't ever tested positive despite extremely frequent testing - is going to somehow prevent the spread of avian flu

The birds that had tested positive were all kept in a seperate corrall & culled about a year ago. (The legal process has stretched this out by about a year)

So if there was going to be some sort of fallout from the birds that were sick, I imagine we would have seen some indication of that by now...??



But WTF do I know either? I'm certainly not a bird expert, nor a contagious disease expert, by any means

So how close is this location to where the Ostriches where located?

B.C. animal sanctuary shares update on avian influenza, reports deaths of 19 birds

An animal sanctuary in B.C.’s Okanagan is sharing more information about an outbreak of avian influenza staff and volunteers have described as “devastating” and “heartbreaking.”

www.ctvnews.ca

EDIT:

This one seems even worse:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/avian-flu-breaks-out-bc-fraser-valley-farms-9.6954509

 

[CBH99]

So how close is this location to where the Ostriches where located?

Oooofffff...

Roughly eyeballing it just using a map of BC I pulled up on Google, I would say...ummmmm...between 280km and 310km or so? Ish?

 

[daftandbarmy]

So the ostriches had initially been bred for food, but the owners of the ranch started doing medical research on them a few years ago - that takes them out of the food system.

And they had been tested near daily for nearly 300 days, and had never tested positive for avian flu.

The ones that had tested positive for avian flu had already been culled quite some time ago

...

In my pea brain, I still don't get how killing a bunch of healthy ostriches that aren't sick and corralled in a seperate pen, and who hadn't ever tested positive despite extremely frequent testing - is going to somehow prevent the spread of avian flu

The birds that had tested positive were all kept in a seperate corrall & culled about a year ago. (The legal process has stretched this out by about a year)

So if there was going to be some sort of fallout from the birds that were sick, I imagine we would have seen some indication of that by now...??



But WTF do I know either? I'm certainly not a bird expert, nor a contagious disease expert, by any means

Here's the official policy. I listened to a scientist explain the rationale and am all for it if, as they explained, the alternative might be the transfer of the flu bug to humans - which is fatal and incurable....

CFIA's basis for applying disease control measures at an avian influenza infected ostrich farm​

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Canada's national poultry sectors have been responding to detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Canada since December 2021. Industry has been highly supportive of the CFIA in its response to HPAI, working collaboratively to implement control measures and protect animal health.

The CFIA has acted to minimize the risk of the virus spreading within Canadian flocks and to other animals. All avian influenza viruses, particularly H5 and H7 viruses, have the potential to infect mammals, including humans. Our disease response aims to protect public and animal health, minimize impacts on the domestic poultry industry and the Canadian economy.

CFIA's basis for applying disease control measures at an avian influenza infected ostrich farm - inspection.canada.ca

inspection.canada.ca

 

[Czech_pivo]

Oooofffff...

Roughly eyeballing it just using a map of BC I pulled up on Google, I would say...ummmmm...between 280km and 310km or so? Ish?

So the distance that a migratory bird could fly in 2-3 days?

 

[GR66]

Here's the official policy. I listened to a scientist explain the rationale and am all for it if, as they explained, the alternative might be the transfer of the flu bug to humans - which is fatal and incurable....

CFIA's basis for applying disease control measures at an avian influenza infected ostrich farm​

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Canada's national poultry sectors have been responding to detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Canada since December 2021. Industry has been highly supportive of the CFIA in its response to HPAI, working collaboratively to implement control measures and protect animal health.

The CFIA has acted to minimize the risk of the virus spreading within Canadian flocks and to other animals. All avian influenza viruses, particularly H5 and H7 viruses, have the potential to infect mammals, including humans. Our disease response aims to protect public and animal health, minimize impacts on the domestic poultry industry and the Canadian economy.

CFIA's basis for applying disease control measures at an avian influenza infected ostrich farm - inspection.canada.ca

inspection.canada.ca

So the ostriches had initially been bred for food, but the owners of the ranch started doing medical research on them a few years ago - that takes them out of the food system.

And they had been tested near daily for nearly 300 days, and had never tested positive for avian flu.

The ones that had tested positive for avian flu had already been culled quite some time ago

Some interesting details in the CFIA report:

Universal Ostrich Farm compliance issues​

Universal Ostrich Farm has not cooperated with the requirements set out under the Health of Animals Act (HAA).

The farm owners failed to report the initial cases of illness and deaths to the CFIA, as required by the HAA. After being placed under quarantine as an infected place, Universal Ostrich Farm failed to adhere to quarantine orders. Universal Ostrich Farm was issued two notices of violations with penalty, totaling $20,000.

The farm also failed to undertake biosecurity risk mitigation measures. This includes a failure to address significant biosecurity hazards such as the accumulation of manure, the encouraging of wild birds to feed with the ostriches and the improper handling and disposal of deceased animals that have been infected with or exposed to HPAI.

These actions significantly increase the risk of disease transmission and reflect a disregard for regulatory compliance and animal health standards.

Universal Ostrich Farm's unsubstantiated scientific research claims​

Antibody production is an important area of scientific research, but the CFIA has not received any evidence of it being done at the infected premises.

Research documentation was not provided during the review of their request for exemption from the disposal order based on unique genetics or during the judicial review process.

To be precise:

• the CFIA has not received formal documentation of research involving this flock, such as active research trial logs or detailed research protocols
• no formal documentation of antibody production and collection from the flock has been provided
• the CFIA has not received any research to show the flock of ostriches currently under quarantine has a unique capacity to produce eggs with antibodies

Further, the current physical facilities at their location are not suitable for controlled research activities or trials (for example no biocontainment measures to prevent interaction with, or exposure to, wildlife, no handling facilities that are required for routine live animal research).