Convoy and court case planned as B.C. ostrich farm fights order to kill birds due to avian flu infection


An ostructured BC farm ordered to kill all its flock of what it says is approximately 400 birds due to an avian flu infection, on the other hand, it is fighting its case in court, and in the court of public opinion.

Universal Ostrich is located on a rural road near Edgewood, in the BC West Kootenay region. Reaching approximately 175 kilometers by Kelowna car along a winding road, or about 360 kilometers northeast of Vancouver while the crow flies.

And during the last weeks, it has been the site of a growing set of supporters who see the order to kill birds, which can live for 30 or even 40 years, as an example of government overreach that does not take into account the details From the situation facing the owners of the farm, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, who have raised some of the birds that face death for decades.

“We just want transparency,” said Miran’s daughter, Katie Pasitney, who has been acting as a farm spokesman.

Look | Pasitney turns her mother’s farm, naming individual ostriches:

Ostrich Face Faces February 1 Cull

Katie Pasitney of Universal Ostrich presents some of its Facebook followers to the ostrurts that have been ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency after the avian flu was detected on the farm.

On Thursday, he said that his lawyer had submitted at the BC Supreme Court to obtain an emergency order to avoid sacrifice and expected the case to be heard on Friday.

Pasitney said that, although some ostriches on the farm have died of avian flu, 69 in total, they are only a small percentage of the general flock. And, he said, all who have died were younger, while the remaining older ostriches have good health.

“We are in the immunity of the flock,” he argued, saying that there have been no new deaths since January 14, and telling CBC News that of the birds that are still alive, none exhibits symptoms of the disease. (Researchers contacted by CBC News say that there is limited information about whether ostriches can develop immunity to avian flu).

The risks of propagation are also minimized, Espersen said, because Universal Ostrich does not sell their birds for meat.

On the other hand, the farm in recent years has revolved in the elevation of ostriches to investigate their ability to combat disease of ostrich and detecting COVID-19.

CBC News has communicated with the university, but has not had news.

Until now, the guarantees of the Universal ostrich have not been able to reverse a decision of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

The agency issued a sacrifice order on December 31 after detecting avian flu in the farm earlier that month, and gave the owners a deadline of February 1, this Saturday, to eliminate ostrurts.

Generalized disease

If that happens, the flock will join the close to nine million domestic birds in BC and more than 14 million in all Canada that have been sacrificed or died alone after being infected with the current H5N1 strain of the avian flu, which CFIA refers as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), first detected in the province in 2022.

The death count includes poultry in more than 200 current stores and previously infected in BC, mostly farms and processing facilities, but also extends to at least one zoologicalwhose owner described the heartbreaking process of saying goodbye to more than four dozen chickens and ducks.

Thus, it is very similar to the way that Universal Ostrich describes its animals, whom Pasitney has been introducing into social networks to increase support, the owner of the portfolio zoo said their birds “had names and were more than just just ‘cattle'”.

Look | The risks of the aviar flu:

What is the potential of avian flu to infect humans, and can we handle it?

A Housecat has died in the United States after eating raw pet foods and contracting H5N1 avian flu. The epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Lip tells CBC News that the risk that any individual pet obtains avian flu is low, but what is aware that it is easier to infect different types of animals, ‘the easier it will become this virus for this virus infect humans.

In a statement published this week, the CFIA recognized the emotional toll that may take the death of animals, but said that their work is to minimize the risk of virus propagation, including humans.

“Our response to the disease has aimed to protect public health and animals, minimize impacts on the domestic poultry industry and the Canadian economy … in domestic birds, including ostriches, this is achieved through depopulation timely of domestic birds in infected premises. “

The duty to do this, said the agency, is described in its mandate under the animal’s health law and World Animal Health Organizationof which Canada is a member.

Risks versus benefits in sacrifice decisions

An ostrotive herd is seen in a snowy field.
Pasitney says that their ostriches represent little risk to the broader population, since they are non -flying birds that are not being used for meat. (Sent by Katie Pasitney)

Aviar flu can spread rapidly between domestic and wild birds, whose long migration patterns provide even more opportunities for the disease to transfer between communities and other animal populations, including humans.

That said, the effectiveness of a sacrifice can be limited.

In an email to CBC News, J. Scott Weese, professor at the Veterinary University of Ontario, said that the practice makes sense in general “when there is a generalized infection, risk for people around animals, limited another risk of exposure of exposure “, And in cases where you are the cases. There is a limited value, whether economic, personal or conservation purposes, of the animals that are killed.

He urged the precaution about the statements that the remaining ostriches on the farm could be immune to the avian flu, and pointed out that the investigation in the field is weak, but said that there are fewer arguments in favor of a sacrifice from a point of view of the disease of the disease now that now that now is that the one who now is the one that now is that now is that the moment in which now is that the moment when the H5N1 of the flu is now Aviar has been well established.

“An individual bird group is a drop in the cube now,” he said. “The sacrifice is probably not enough to benefit the population.”

However, he added that from a “point of view of risk aversion”, a sacrifice is the “easiest” to do.

And the risks of allowing avian flu to spread are especially pronounced in BC, where, last year, a 13 -year -old girl was the first in Canada to be infected in the country with H5N1. He spent several weeks in intensive care in BC Children’s Hospital after experiencing respiratory failure and pneumonia.

Listening | An interview with Universal Ostrich:

Radio to the west10:12Ostrich c rat

An ostrich farm in western Kootenay is the site of the first Aviar flu of Canada in ostriches. He has been ordered to sacrifice all the bird of birds, which has devastated the owners.

In other places, even in the United States, human death has been informed after infection and it is feared that if the avian flu is allowed to spread and mutate, it could also happen in Canada.

“The CFIA assumes the responsibility of protecting the health of animals and Canadians extremely seriously, since we carry out these measures to control the necessary diseases to protect public health,” said the CFIA in his statement.

The agency also said that it has veterinarians and inspectors who work with farmers to create a human plan for the murder of their birds, and that if the farms do not comply, they can face fines and time in jail.

He added that the owners can be compensated, up to $ 3,000 per AVE in the case of ostriches, with backup documentation.

“While compensation may not compensate for the emotional toll of depopulation, it can provide resources to recover and restore operations,” CFIA said.

But that is not feasible for the Universal ostrich, said Pasitney. His mother is 60 years old, his business partner in his 70 years, and they do not feel that they can start again with a new set of birds, especially those who are as pinicated as ostriches.

“They are in the hierarchical order,” said Pasitney. “They know them.”

Growing support

A group of people with a sign that says
The supporters of the universal ostrich pose outside the farm in the BC West Kootenay region. (Facebook/Katie Pasitney)

And the owners of the farm have found a comprehensive audience for their history.

The Animal Rights Group has been involved, arguing that, instead of mass sacrifices, Canada should focus on improving the conditions on large -scale poultry farms where birds remain in more confined conditions.

The cause has also been collected by groups and individuals previously associated with Protestant public health measures that surround COVID-19, partly due to the insistence of the farm that their ostriches have “natural antibodies” and should be studied to find out if they can Help in combat diseases in humans or other animals.

A poster that shows ostric images that read our ostrurts'.
A poster announces a convoy for the universal ostrich to protest the orderly sacrifice. (Facebook/BC Rising)

The main of these groups is BC Rising, whose website includes a section that argues that COVID-19 was part of a plot directed by the United Nations to take control of vast ground stripes and that 15-minute cities, a tool Urban planning aimed at creating walks. The neighborhoods is actually a plot to catch people in individual sectors of their city.

The site now has a section entitled “Save Our Ostrich” with plans to summon a universal ostrich on Saturday to protest and observe, urging participants to bring cameras, but to leave “political signals or flags” at home and remember The members who remain peaceful.

When asked about the publication, which Pasitney has shared, he said, as long as he does not support all the ideas of his family’s supporters, he welcomes the public protest in the name of his ostriches.

“We are just trying to do the right thing,” he said. “I am impressed.”



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *