Premiers Smith, Ford Voice Support for Saving BC Farm Ostriches From Cull Order

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say they support saving the lives of a flock of ostriches on a B.C. farm that has been issued a cull order by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) over avian flu concerns.

The CFIA ordered the cull of about 400 birds at the Universal Ostrich farm in Edgewood, B.C., after 69 ostriches died following a breakout of avian flu among the herd in December 2024 and January 2025.

The owners of the farm have challenged the order in court, saying the animals have immunity and are being used for research. Their case was heard in the Federal Court of Appeal on July 15.

Smith noted that despite being exposed to the flu, not all of the birds died.

“When avian flu went through that herd, it did kill 20 percent of them, but it didn’t kill 80 percent of them,” she said during an unrelated news conference in Huntsville, Ont., on July 22.

“Maybe there is something to learn from whether there’s an immunity or some kind of vaccine that could be developed as a result of having that flock survive.”

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz have also expressed concern over the fate of the birds.

Kennedy wrote a letter to the CFIA head asking the cull to be stopped.

Oz has offered to take the birds in at his Florida ranch.

Smith noted the case has received a lot of “public sentiment.”

“If we could find a better way than doing mass culls in any situation like this, I think it’s probably worth it to try to find a better way to do it.”

Premier Ford said he too supported another alternative for the flock, calling himself “an animal lover.”

The CFIA gave the cull order to the farm in December 2024 but the farm legally challenged it.

A federal court upheld the order in June, but the farm owners appealed the decision. They had previously applied for a judicial review of the CFIA order but it was denied.

The federal appeal court did not say when its ruling would be released.

The CFIA said that the quarantine order for the birds needed to be followed through the appeals process.

It said the birds have a mutation of the avian flu that has not been seen anywhere else in Canada, and the birds present a risk to the public.

“It increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife,” the CFIA said in a statement on its website.

The agency also said the type of infection found at the farm was the same type that resulted in an extended hospital stay for a human patient in Ohio. It noted the individual required “critical care.”

The CFIA fined the farm $20,000 for failing to cooperate with its anti-avian flu measures. It has also issued two violation notices to the farm for failing to report illnesses and deaths among the animals in 2024, and for failing to follow quarantine orders.

After the cull order was issued, protesters started to gather at the farm to prevent the CFIA from following through with the order.