An ostrich cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) 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.
In a statement on Friday, the CFIA said the birds were shot by “professional marksmen in a controlled on-farm setting.
“This method is consistent with Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and American Veterinary Medical Association recommendations and may be used as required, particularly when other methods are impractical,” the organization said.
The CFIA confirmed that the farm remains quarantined under the Health of Animals Act and that disposal of the birds’ carcasses has begun.
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RCMP officers were on site and said no one was injured or arrested.
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.”
More to come.
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