EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has shot dead all ostriches at a British Columbia farm, fulfilling a cull order over an avian flu outbreak.
It said in a news release on Friday that a “professional marksman” was used as the “most appropriate and humane option” to complete the cull of hundreds of birds at the farm at Edgewood, B.C.
“This method is consistent with Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and American Veterinary Medical Association recommendations and may be used as required, particularly when other methods are impractical,” it said.
A holding pen that was filled with ostriches on Thursday appeared still and empty of live birds on Friday, and no ostriches could be seen anywhere else on the property.
Instead, the pen where the shootings took place was filled with long blue tarpaulins covering objects on the ground that were also shrouded with black sheeting.
The shooting went on for hours on Thursday night, after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled earlier in the day that it would not hear the farmers’ final appeal against the cull.
The CFIA, which numbered the flock at between 300 to 330 birds, said the shootings were completed under veterinary supervision.
“The CFIA has now started the disposal stage of the disease response,” it said.
A CFIA manual on culling procedures, that the agency said contained “best practices,” describes shooting as a method of “last resort.”
The owners of the farm had fought the cull order for 10 months, losing at the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, while managing to stave off the killings with legal stays.
But at 6:45 a.m. on Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada announced it had declined to hear their final appeal, lifting any impediment to the cull.
The shooting began around 6 p.m., with multiple shots in quick succession.
Janice Tyndall, 72, said she listened to it intermittently for a couple hours before she “couldn’t stomach it anymore” and left the scene.
The farmer from Salmon Arm, B.C., was back in her car near the property around midnight when she heard the shooting start again.
“I’m thinking, ‘they’re still shooting? How could they still be shooting?'” she said.
She said the gunfire varied, with some “lower bangs” and others higher, “like somebody with a high-powered rifle.”
Bright floodlights and the bales obscured what was happening inside the enclosure after dark.
Farm spokeswoman Katie Pasitney, whose mother Karen Espersen co-owns the property, said in a Facebook post Friday that they were “broken and can’t imagine the suffering last night. We can’t get out of bed.”
The farm’s owners have said the cull was unnecessary because the flock was healthy and had “herd immunity,” making them valuable for scientific research, while requesting that the birds be tested for infection.
But the CFIA refused, saying ostriches that appear healthy can still be a potential source of the virus and allowing the flock to live increased the risk the virus would dangerously mutate, particularly if the birds were exposed to wildlife.
A lone RCMP officer was patrolling the field Friday morning and the scene was quiet except for the sound of generators powering CFIA and RCMP equipment around the enclosure.
Hours earlier, supporters of the farm who gathered at a highway overlooking the field had been screaming at the CFIA to stop the cull after the shooting began.
Tyndall, who said she had visited the farm six times since spring, including her current stay of two weeks, said she “felt every shot” that she heard overnight.
She said she admired the farmers, who were fighting government overreach and the CFIA, which lacked accountability.
“It’s gonna ruin their lives, and they need a lot of support and thank God that they’re standing up,” she said.
The farmers are eligible for up to $3,000 per ostrich in compensation, according to the CFIA.