Top US officials defend ostriches as Canada moves ahead with cull

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has urged the Canadian government to call off a planned cull of 400 ostriches in British Columbia, arguing that the birds should be studied for their potential immune response to avian flu rather than destroyed.

The ostriches, housed at the Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, have been at the center of controversy after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ordered a cull in response to an avian influenza outbreak that killed dozens of birds over the Christmas period. While a federal court has upheld the order, protests and appeals from animal rights advocates continue, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Kennedy, who has a long and often unconventional history with animals, has now stepped into the fray as a would-be animal savior. In a letter addressed to CFIA President Paul MacKinnon, Kennedy warned that the cull could undermine valuable scientific opportunities.

“There would be ‘significant value’ in studying the birds’ immune response to avian flu,” he wrote, arguing that such research could contribute to North American agricultural resilience. “The indiscriminate destruction of entire flocks without up-to-date testing and evaluation can have significant consequences, including the loss of valuable genetic stock that may help explain risk factors for H5N1 mortality,” Kennedy stated. “This may be important for future agricultural resilience.”

Kennedy added that killing the birds would do little to stop the spread of the virus, which is already endemic across the continent.

Joining Kennedy in the effort is another Trump administration appointee, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who now serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Oz has offered to relocate the birds to his Florida ranch. “We’re sticking our necks out for the birds,” he said. “The Canadians should stop putting their heads in the sand. We just have to get [the ostriches] out of Canada. It doesn’t help anyone to kill all the birds.”

Katie Pasitney, whose family owns the farm, expressed gratitude for Kennedy’s intervention: “Thank you for trying to protect innovative science and these animals,” she wrote on Facebook.

Despite mounting pressure, the Canadian government remains firm. “The CFIA remains focused on our ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) response across Canada,” the agency said in a statement.

By Vafa Guliyeva