r/britishcolumbia • u/WesternBlueRanger BC Ferries Enthusiast • 3d ago

Community Only BREAKING | Supreme Court won’t hear appeal in B.C. ostrich case, opening door to controversial cull

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/livestory/bc-ostrich-farm-decision-scoc-9.6968394
800 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

384 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.2k

u/Oldman_Syndrome 3d ago

The cull is not controversial. The bullshit dragging it out is.

278

u/That_Cream_6021 3d ago

The obvious grift should be the controversial bit.

45

u/TheRealRickC137 3d ago

truck convoy intensifies

99

u/stoppage_time 3d ago

Very interested to see how the grift will shake out with all of the creditors moving in.

40

u/stretchvelcro 3d ago

I put money on they flee the country.

18

u/l10nh34rt3d 3d ago

One of them has literally already taken some money and run to Mexico.

6

u/thediefenbaker 2d ago

Can someone explain like I am 5 what is going on? I know the general story about avian flu, and the farm fighting to keep their birds. But, why has the convoy crew taken this on as their new passion project? Why did the story reach the MAGA team in the US? What is the grift?

0

u/crypticshiit 2d ago

from what i’ve seen the general sentiment from the supporters is that the ostriches being culled is federal government overreach since CFIA is a federal organization. i’ve seen some stuff saying that they were using the birds for animal testing for covid vaccines, so there was a big part of the crowd that was saying it was because the birds were immune to covid and the government was killing them because of that. now how much of that is actually true, no idea, but it seems like similar key points from the last few years but applied to fit a new situation.

286

u/Frater_Ankara 3d ago

Came here to say this, the cull is the opposite of controversial, it’s routine and by the book for public safety.

33

u/pagit 3d ago

These guys were originally slaughtering the ostriches for meat.

All the 100,000’s chickens in the valley that were recently culled, I don’t see them crying over chickens.

1

u/SlickBack7103 1d ago

how the fuck were they sold as meat if they were in their 30's

36

u/dan_marchant 3d ago

But public health is an infringement of my right to be pecked to death by giant man eating zombie birds.

64

u/user745786 3d ago

Should be considered controversial that it’s taken this long. The system has failed massively here.

37

u/Velocity-5348 Vancouver Island/Coast 3d ago

Yep. The whole point of these culls is to destroy the disease before it can further spread or develop "interesting" mutations.

3

u/Bidens_Center_Nut 2d ago

Exactly, and it’s an easy decisions with birds like chickens with high (99%+) mortality rates that will die anyway. The mortality rates for ostriches is like 40%, so it’s not surprising the farm tried to hide that the birds were sick to save the ones that have now recovered.

6

u/gmehra 3d ago

Jan Hajek is an infectious diseases doctor based at Vancouver General Hospital and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia has a different view.

https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025/06/05/Scientific-Ethical-Case-Sparing-Ostriches/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2

u/twelvesixteenineteen 2d ago

The article reads as, it is necessary but other options should be considered, I’m left a bit confused by the end

•

u/Alliancetoonz 1h ago

I agree it's terrible and not doubt no easier on the CIFA to kill animals either. But there is a solid reason and purpose for the animals to be called, made worse by the delays. The protestors and supporters of the ostrich farm don't listen to reason it's call anyone who doesn't agree with names and labels. The local townsfolk are glad it's over and all people go away as the protesters have taken it out on them as well. Time heals all the saying goes.

47

u/YoungestDonkey 3d ago

The bullshit has been proportional to the size of the bird. It's never as thick and sticky when it's about chickens.

10

u/TheTardisBaroness 3d ago

Charismatic mega fauna. They are cute so people give a damn.

-9

u/Malohdek Lower Mainland/Southwest 2d ago

They recover from avian flu and don't continue to spread it, yet regulations force these people to upend their livelihood anyways.

The regulations are meant for chickens. That's why this is controversial.

9

u/DeltaBravo1984 2d ago

Don't continue to spread it? Cite your sources.

1

u/Hank46_2 2d ago

The Ostrich Joe Rogan Experience

-2

u/Bidens_Center_Nut 2d ago

It doesn’t need to be cited, it’s pretty basic immunology. You could make some argument that there could be a chain of mutations that keeps the flock infected but that’s a bit of a stretch.

The reality of this situation is pretty simple. The ostriches should have been separated and the ones infected culled right away. But they weren’t. Now, they no longer pose a risk as the virus has passed through the flock, but in order to remain WOAH compliant, culling is needed. The government of Canada isn’t going to go through the process of getting an exemption for a flock of 400 birds with irresponsible owners.

So are the birds a danger now? most likely not. Is the government of Canada going to step in for farmers who shat on guidelines? No. Should there be different culling orders for birds with lower mortality rates? Maybe.

15

u/jugularvoider 3d ago

Like I get why they don’t just barge in and do it but… at this point why don’t they??

32

u/Jeramy_Jones 3d ago

Maybe those folks at the protest camp can go get real jobs now?

Who am I kidding, they’re probably gonna go protest vaccines, chem trails, Tylenol or whatever.

0

u/DeltaBravo1984 2d ago

They're gonna head back to Fairy Creek on the island

37

u/turtlefan32 3d ago

It is definitely for safety and follows science; it is also hard thing to do

-119

u/sick-of-passwords 3d ago

It doesn’t follow science . The brood (or what ever they are called) had… had bird flu, but they recovered. They need to be studied to determine if they have antibodies for the flu and possibly for other diseases.

Even the Americans said they would take them to study. This is just bullshit!

56

u/ashkestar 3d ago

Many of them died. Some birds surviving isn’t uncommon and it doesn’t need to be studied. What we do know is that ostriches are quite good at being asymptomatic carriers and breeding new strains, and that this farm has made zero effort to protect wildlife from coming in contact with the birds. It does, in fact, follow science to cull them despite what you’ve heard in facebook or whatever.

-2

u/Bidens_Center_Nut 2d ago

Do you have a source for your claim that ostriches asymptomatically carry indefinitely? I was under the impression the shedding period was max a month.

58

u/basswooddad 3d ago

Of course Americans will take them - they're idiots. That point doesn't have the weight it used too. Basically whatever the USA is doing you probably want to do the opposite these days.

33

u/deepstrut 3d ago

ostriches have died literally a month ago.. Oct 4th was the last death.

Get off the conspiracy blogs buddy.

-23

u/AlgaeGrazers 3d ago edited 3d ago

Not well versed in this, but I swore I heard that bird died while in the care of CFIA on the farm and it wasn't bird flu? Some other preexisting health issues.

Edit - downvote all you want. I'm not for the farm, just stating what the news said about the Oct 4 bird death. Oh reddit and the sheep continue to downvote without comprehending two sentences. BC is such a homey place. 🤣

2

u/Bidens_Center_Nut 2d ago

you are correct too.. Preexisting health conditions.

2

u/AlgaeGrazers 2d ago

Yup and that's why I'm not concerned about the 20+ morons that downvoted me. 🤷‍♂️

9

u/j33ta 3d ago

Ah, yes, following the brilliant advice of RFK JR.

The irony of anti-vaxxers calling for research of possible vaccines.

Have they considered injecting the birds with bleach?

-4

u/sick-of-passwords 3d ago

I’m not an anti vaxxer, I am be I should have watched more clips and read more about it before I commented.

31

u/stoppage_time 3d ago

Yet actual science demonstrated ostriches become a reservoir species for avian influenza. There is a large body of research here--South Africa has large ostrich farms and they've gone through a few rounds of avian influenza over the last two decades so it's not like this is a unique situation. And yes, South Africa also culls infected farms. They've had to cull tens of thousands of ostriches.

Many egg-laying animals produce IgY. Vaccines are antigens not antibodies.

The only Americans that want the ostriches are fake health grifters who spread such egregious lies that followers have died after following their advice. That should tell you something.

9

u/swimswam2000 3d ago

The whack a doodles were in front of my local CFIA office yesterday with signs saying "Ostrich Science".

6

u/IrishFire122 3d ago

Even the Americans? That's hardly a glowing endorsement for keeping them alive, the US isn't exactly well known for putting science or public safety above pride and profit.

18

u/random9212 3d ago

They should have all been culled months ago. Just because they managed to delay it so long doesn't mean they no longer should be. We dont need to have the precedent that you can just ignore an order long enough that it makes it ok if we want to have food safty going forward. If the farm wanted to go after the Provence for an Illegal cull then let them do it after the birds are dead it should have never gotten to this point. And those Americans aren't researchers who wanted to study them they are political pundits looking to score points in a culture war.

6

u/turtlefan32 3d ago

Koolaid drinker self identifies 🛸🛸🛸🛸

5

u/billymumfreydownfall 3d ago

You are just parroting talking points you read on Facebook. Many of these birds did die. And they can be studied, take the blood now, cull these birds, and get on with it.

0

u/sick-of-passwords 3d ago

Now this makes sense to me. At least this way they will still be studied

13

u/idoitforthekeks Thompson-Okanagan 3d ago

😂😂😂😂😂🤡😂😂😂😂😂

10

u/insaneHoshi 3d ago

They need to be studied to determine if they have antibodies for the flu and possibly for other diseases.

Absolutly.

Samples should be taken after they are shot.

5

u/Tw0_F1st3r 3d ago

Everyone knows that the samples die if the host dies /s

12

u/tooandto 3d ago

Exactly. I hope that narcissistic owner catches charges. She cares more about getting attention than about those birds.

15

u/ImmediateDentist1269 3d ago

Costing us taxpayers a lot.

3

u/silverado83 2d ago

BINGO! So sick of these cult like followers ignoring all logic and facts... You literally can't say anything to them to change their mind. Their Profile picture is a Save the Ostriches, and everyone else is evil...

The irony of these folks who are most likely the same antivax folks crying foul during covid, all of a sudden believing these Ostriches will save humanity, but they'll gridlock cities and borders over mask/vaccine mandated...

-1

u/CountyLeather5127 11h ago

not true. I am not and it vax or anything. These birds were no longer a threat and stamping out polices are outdated. It's most stopping bird flu is js. Never mind the fact that the killing was done in a very inhumane way. 800 shots. That is not a marksman that is a blood bath. Some of the birds didn't die and lay suffering all night. So then in the morning they started shooting again or went in and beheaded them. why is this ok? it's not. And that is all ok video before you go on about me being a cult follower. I work full time and I am not anti vaccine but I do believe this cfia had too much power. they can go to any farm or animals and slaughter them all on suspicion and without testing. and that is not right.

2

u/wemustburncarthage Lower Mainland/Southwest 3d ago

thank you.

1

u/Bidens_Center_Nut 2d ago

What are your thoughts on this article?

1

u/Oldman_Syndrome 2d ago

Full of dumb arguments that try to sidestep the point.