Canada\u2019s food inspection agency says it plans to begin a \u201ccomplete depopulation\u201d of hundreds of ostriches at a farm after the country\u2019s top court declined to block the controversial cull.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the supreme court said it would not take up a case that has catalyzed a fierce protest by the farm owners and protesters \u2013 as well as senior figures in the Trump administration, who have decried the public health effort as government overreach.<\/p>\n
Universal Ostrich Farms, near the town of Edgewood, British Columbia, was first ordered in May to cull nearly 400 birds, amid fears of an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu, and earlier this week officials seized control of the business. Sixty-nine birds have already died after the outbreak of a flu-like illness, but on Wednesday, Canada\u2019s supreme court issued an interim stay on the cull order as it weighed whether to hear the case.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s ruling removed any legal impediment to commencing the killings.<\/p>\n
Robert F Kennedy Jr<\/a>, the US health secretary, lobbied Canadian officials and Mehmet Oz<\/a>, a physician and former TV host appointed by Trump as the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, offered to move the birds to his ranch in Florida. US billionaire John Catsimatidis has also pleaded with the Canadian government to reverse its cull order.<\/p>\n The growing row over the ostriches \u2013 and a simmering post-pandemic skepticism of government \u2013 have inspired protesters to descend on the farm, with many broadcasting their frustration on social media. Under a live stream of the bird enclosure posted online by the farm, commenters frequently express skepticism towards vaccines and call for more proof that the birds are ill.<\/p>\n The case has also penetrated Canada\u2019s federal politics. In early October, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, was asked twice by reporters whether he supported protesters. The Tory leader has avoided making specific comments on the issue, despite many within his party protesting against the cull. He told reporters the issue had been \u201cmismanaged from the very beginning\u201d but didn\u2019t say the word \u201costrich\u201d.<\/p>\n