Ostrich cull complete at B.C. farm, flock of birds declared dead

An ostrich cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency at a farm in Edgewood, B.C., has been completed.

A Global News camera operator at the scene of the Universal Ostrich Farm said gunshots were first heard around 6 p.m. on Thursday.

As of Friday morning, the flock of 300 to 330 birds has been declared dead.

Supporters of the farm could be heard chanting and yelling, angrily decrying the cull.

The owners of the farm had been fighting the cull, which was ordered after an outbreak of avian flu.

On Thursday, the last legal roadblock to the cull was lifted when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear their final appeal.

“The CFIA is not going to break us; the CFIA has just given us more motivation than ever to continue marching on and protect agricultural-led industry, to protect life versus death,” Katie Pasitney, a spokesperson for the Universal Ostrich Farm, said.

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Dave Bilinski, co-owner of the farm, told Global News on Friday morning that they don’t know what happened with the ostriches on Thursday night.

“I wish we knew. They won’t let us in there to see anything,” he said.

“We know that they had around 250 birds altogether in there, again, we don’t know for sure because they wouldn’t let us in for a count, they wouldn’t let us do anything.”

The CFIA has not issued a statement on Friday morning.

More to come.