A flock of healthy ostriches met a violent end last week when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency carried out a cull order against the birds. The killing brought an end to a nearly year-long legal saga that saw the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia fighting to save their birds.

But after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal in the case, the cull order was given the green light. And so, late last week, gunshots rang out overnight in the 'kill pen' that had been set up on the farm.

Questions remain surrounding how the cull was carried out — like who was responsible for the gruesome task, what weapons were used, and why did those on the farm report they heard more shots fired in the morning after the cull took place.

Rebel News boss Ezra Levant travelled to the farm to attempt to get answers to these questions, only to be stonewalled by RCMP on site.

On Monday's Rebel Roundup livestream, hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and David Menzies shared their thoughts on the tragic outcome.

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“Ezra had to use his outdoor voice,” noted David, referring to the Rebel News publisher shouting questions at police after they rolled up their windows in an effort to avoid answering. “As for the RCMP media relations? They're not returning calls or emails from the media, so Ezra was forced into that position just in case they couldn't hear him. What cowards.”

The police, “up until this week,” had done a reasonable job at maintaining order at Universal Ostrich Farms, said Sheila, who has travelled to the farm on multiple occasions. “I saw it firsthand; I was there twice. They were pretty good,” she said. 

“Again, I think a lot of the blame is placed squarely on the CFIA,” Sheila continued, suggesting the CFIA officials were safely hidden away behind the line of police. 

“Who did the cull?” she wondered, recalling the controversy over the government hiring sharpshooters from New Zealand to deal with an invasive deer species. In that instance, Sheila said “the most egregious part of that was when they bent the hunting rules for these foreign nationals to hunt here.”

Could the same company have been hired again? “I don't think the CFIA has the capability to stand on haybales or deer stands and shoot the ostriches as they come by. Somebody, some professional company, got the contract to do this and Canadians deserve to know who they are.”