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The fight to save the 400 healthy ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, is gaining a second wave of political support, but whether that support will be enough to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) from carrying out its kill order remains to be seen.

Federal Conservative MP Scott Anderson has re-joined the chorus of voices calling for Ottawa to step back, retest the birds, and work with scientists rather than doubling down on its mass cull order.

International health officials such as U.S. head of Medicare Dr. Mehmet Oz, as well as the heads of the NIH and the FDA, have applied similar pressure on the agency, stating that culling the animals would be a lost opportunity for both countries to collaborate on ground-breaking research that could benefit global animal and human health.

In a detailed statement titled "The Ostriches: How We Got Here, Where We Are Now, and Where We Go from Here," Anderson condemned what he called a “stubborn refusal” from the CFIA to test the flock — which has been healthy for over 220 days — engage with scientists, or consider alternatives to slaughter.

“Universally, these scientists declared the cull unnecessary,” Anderson said. “Universally they declared that these birds, which have always been research animals, have immense value in immunology research, not only of H5N1 (Bird flu), but also SARS-CoV-2 (Covid) and more.”

Around 2020, the non-poultry birds' eggs began being extracted for robust antibody research to explore therapeutic technology to combat COVID-19. The flock, now having recovered from the Avian flu, makes the herd perfect to expand such research.

Anderson added that every expert he consulted, including University of British Columbia’s Dr. Steven Pelech of the University of British Columbia and multiple researchers from the University of Guelph, expressed confusion over why the CFIA continues to deny testing requests.

“All of them expressed disbelief that the CFIA ordered a cull on the basis of two dead birds subjected to high-cycle PCR tests, while disallowing the farm to test its own birds, and refusing to retest themselves with reliable technology,” he said, noting that one scientist bluntly called the
CFIA’s approach “destruction of knowledge.”

The Trump administration has been making similar arguments for months. In a Monday press conference hosted by billionaire grocer and philanthropist John Catsimatidis, U.S. Dr. Mehmet Oz again urged Canada to stop the slaughter and collaborate with U.S. agencies.

“These birds themselves are now resistant to getting the H5N1 virus,” Oz said, adding that the flock’s eggs now hold “huge scientific value to the global community to find out what it is that allowed these birds to tolerate this often-deadly illness, recover fully, and have no recurring infections within the flock.”

“Secretary Kennedy has spoken to Jay Bhattacharya, who’s head of the NIH. They are willing to research these animals,” Oz said. “Marty Makary, who runs the FDA, would also like to be involved in this process,” explained Oz, before repeating his offer to transfer the ostriches to his 900-acre Florida ranch if Canada would allow it.

For Anderson, the issue is now bigger than one farm. In his statement, he warned of “the helplessness of small farmers against monolithic government bureaucracy,” pointing out that fear of CFIA’s rigid, top-down enforcement could lead to farmers avoiding reporting illnesses altogether.

“Farmers are petrified of reporting sickness in their herds because a CFIA SUV may show up and a few days later some guy at a desk in Ottawa may announce the destruction of a life’s work,” he wrote.

Anderson had choice words for what he sees as a systemic failure of leadership from Ottawa.

“I can only speak for myself when I say I’m disappointed with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s stubborn refusal to allow testing, engage with senior academics in the field, or consider alternatives to mass culls,” he said. “Canadian farmers need answers from the government, not sidesteps, misdirection or obfuscation.”

In a statement to Rebel News, Universal Ostrich Farm spokesperson and co-owner’s daughter Katie Pasitney says they welcome this second wave of political support, which gives them “renewed strength.”

“Our flock deserves protection, not destruction. We see this as a sign that more Canadians, from citizens to parliamentarians, are standing with us in calling for a better path forward for farming, food security, and natural immunity.”