The fight to save a flock of ostriches in British Columbia is still ongoing. Rebel News reporter Drea Humphrey has been closely following the case, which may be drawing to an unfortunate — and gruesome — end, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was given the green light to cull the birds over seemingly unfounded concerns surrounding avian flu.

As the potential slaughter of some 400 ostriches looms, Drea has been embedded at Universal Ostrich Farms in remote Edgewood, B.C. awaiting the next steps.

Drea joined Thursday night's edition of The Ezra Levant Show to provide an update on the birds' status and what might happen as protesters have camped out on the farm while rumours swirl about the government assembling a task force to destroy the ostriches.

The story is symbolic of the broad fight for freedom, noted Ezra, and if the government loses, “they'll lose some of their power.”

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Attempting to address why the government has pursued this fight so feverishly, Drea speculated it could be an attempt to send a message to poultry farmers, who have had millions of their birds culled in recent years.

“Not only is the CFIA refusing to retest these birds,” Drea told Ezra, “they're threatening the farmers with six months in jail and an outstanding fine if they use their own money to test the animals themselves.”

Another theory surrounds the birds' use for scientific research, which saw antibodies being extracted from the ostriches' eggs and used for therapeutic research.

The United States government has event stepped in, offering to take the birds to continue the research.

With ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the U.S., “why would you slaughter that opportunity, that research, to possibly find a better way to address this than mass culling,” Drea wondered.

The farmers believe a lot is at stake in this fight, Drea explained. From property rights, farming and food sovereignty to economic and scientific freedom.

Follow all of Drea's reports from Universal Ostrich Farms and help support her journalistic mission at SaveTheOstriches.com.