It’s been nearly five months since any of the 400 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farm in rural Edgewood, B.C., showed signs of avian influenza. Yet the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) still insists the birds who are used for antibody therapeutics research, must be slaughtered under its mass cull policy, known as stamping-out.

But the farmers at the heart of the fight — and even scientists, politicians, protesters, and supporters — say it’s the CFIA’s outdated and unscientific approach that should be put down, not the healthy flock.

For co-owner Dave Bilinski, the agency’s tactics represent more than just a personal tragedy. “The stamping out policy is not working and has not been working,” he told Rebel News.

“This is the tip of the iceberg for the problems that are coming with the avian flu. If they’re successful in culling these birds, there’s many farms that are going to go down,” citing the “internationally recognized” strategy.

But the push against the CFIA’s “stamping-out” method isn’t new. In 2004, during a avian flu outbreak in B.C., a parliamentary committee and even the agency’s own internal “Lessons Learned” report acknowledged its sweeping missteps.

Those failures included mass destruction of rare birds, poor communication with farmers, lack of humane practices, and centralized decision-making that cut out local expertise. Despite promises of reform, critics say the agency still operates under a rigid, top-down system that resists transparency and evolution.

A 2005 House of Commons Standing Committee report following Lessons Learned criticized the agency’s “centralized decision-making in Ottawa,” “delayed and inconsistent communication with local farms,” and mass euthanasia of birds — including rare genetic stock without clear scientific justification.

OSTRICH FARM NEWS:

The CFIA has released a statement hitting back at the farmers who have gained significant traction in pushing back against their cull order.

They want you to rest assured that they’re simply following WHO guidelines 🙄 in their plans to kill the healthy flock… pic.twitter.com/QGsKJtqMc3

— Drea Humphrey (@DreaHumphrey) May 31, 2025

Despite 10 years passing, the ongoing "battle of the ostrich birds" highlights persistent problems. The CFIA claims that culling healthy animals is in line with "internationally recognized" World Health directives.

“The CFlA's response to highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry is based on an approach known as "stamping-out", as defined by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH)” the agency wrote in a recent statement that misrepresented the farmers and the research, while defending their plans to kill they non-poultry or for human consumption birds.

“Stamping-out is the internationally recognized standard and is a primary tool to manage the spread of HPAl and mitigate risks to animal and human health as well as enable international trade. It includes steps to eliminate the virus from an infected premises, including the humane depopulation and disposal of infected animals, and disinfection of premises” the agency continued.

BREAKING OSTRICH FARM NEWS:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is manipulating the public to excuse their plan to cull healthy research ostriches.

This clip from my upcoming interview with UBC and @CCCAlliance 's, Dr. Steven Pelech proves it! https://t.co/ziF2wnKOdh pic.twitter.com/JjTv5JPD5g

— Drea Humphrey (@DreaHumphrey) June 1, 2025

During an interview with Rebel News, UBC neurology professor and biochemist Dr. Steven Pelech, explains how the CFIA’s kill mission supersedes the WOAH’s guidelines for infected flocks.

“The World Health Organization for animal health does not require that you have to cull the birds in order to get disease-free status,” said Dr. Pelech. “If you don’t have an outbreak within 28 days in the zone, then you have disease-free status. If you do not do anything” and let the virus burn out, “then you have to wait a year before you can get that disease-free status.”

He added: “That farm is in its own zone, so what goes on in that zone does not affect the animal trade and the disease-free status in any of the other zones in B.C. and Canada.”

According to Dr. Pelech, the CFIA is contradicting itself: “On the one hand they’re saying that we don’t have to follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization for animal health , we have our own guidelines that we update, but then on the other hand they’re blaming why they have to do this on the World Organization for Animal Health.”

Following their Federal Court loss in mid-May, ostrich farmers appealed on May 26, with their legal fight supported by crowdfunding. This case, seen as the "battle of the birds," questions whether public institutions can adapt outdated policies.

Until then, the CFIA continues to threaten slaughter. Nearly 150 days have passed with no signs of illness in the ostriches.

Please help Rebel News send Drea to report on the cruel ostrich cull in Edgewood, B.C.

A shocking government-ordered ostrich cull is underway in Canada, leaving devastated farmers and outraged citizens demanding answers. The mainstream media refuses to tell the full story, but Rebel News is sending Drea Humphrey to report from the ground and expose the truth. Independent journalism like this depends on your support. Please donate here to help cover Drea's travel costs to get to and from the ostrich farm in Edgewood, British Columbia.

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