Several gunshots heard at a B.C. ostrich farm signalled the end of an almost year-long saga to shield the lives of more than 300 birds.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Friday that it had culled the birds, the CBC is reporting. The Canadian Press reports to complete the cull, a “professional marksman was used as the most appropriate and humane option.”
The agency moved ahead after the Supreme Court of Canada announcement early Thursday that it would not hear an appeal against the cull by the farm’s owners.
The gunshot sounds heard Thursday night at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., came from inside an enclosure made of hay bales where the CFIA had herded scores of the ostriches, reports B.C. media outlet,
. Farm supporters shouted “Stop!” and “Murderers!” when the cull proceeded just after darkness fell.
The
released on Thursday that it would be moving forward with “complete depopulation and disposal” of the birds, guided by its “stamping out policy” for avian flu, and set out in the original cull order it issued 10 months ago after an outbreak on the farm resulted in the death of 69 birds.
The CFIA statement notes that appeals of the cull order failed in the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal. Both courts “determined that the CFIA acted reasonably and in a procedurally fair manner in its decision to apply the stamping-out policy for the ostrich premises.”
The CFIA also restated the reasoning behind the cull: “Our disease response aims to protect both public and animal health, as well as minimize impacts on the $6.8 billion domestic poultry industry, and the Canadian economy. This supports Canadian families and poultry farmers whose livelihoods depend on maintaining international market access for $1.75 billion in exports.”
The holding pen at the farm, which had been filled with ostriches on Thursday, appeared still and empty on Friday morning, the
reports. Instead, the pen is filled with long blue tarpaulins covering objects on the ground, which are also shrouded with black sheeting.
Bright floodlights and hay bales had obscured what was happening inside the enclosure. Two RCMP vehicles had blocked the road leading to the area where supporters have been gathering at the farm, with officers turning people away. On Friday the road was clear, reports CP.
A lone RCMP officer was patrolling the field Friday morning and the farm was quiet except for the sound of generators powering CFIA and RCMP equipment.
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