{"id":276243,"date":"2025-11-11T11:48:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/276243\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T11:48:14","slug":"b-c-animal-sanctuary-devastated-after-euthanizing-animals-due-to-avian-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/276243\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. animal sanctuary \u2018devastated\u2019 after euthanizing animals due to avian flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

An animal sanctuary in B.C.\u2019s interior says it is facing a \u201cheartbreaking\u201d experience after discovering a positive case of H5N1<\/a>, also known as avian flu.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Critteraid took to social media on Nov. 7, saying its volunteers are \u201cdevastated\u201d by the discovery of avian flu at their facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe animals in our care are the centre of everything we do and the emotional weight of this moment is immense,\u201d the organization said on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sanctuary, which is based in Summerland, confirmed to Global News on Monday that 10 chickens have died and that all 10 were sick and showing symptoms of avian flu.<\/p>\n

Out of the 10, two had to be euthanized.<\/p>\n

In addition, Critteraid said it had to euthanize five ducks as well.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were given the choice to do it ourselves or have (the CFIA) disposal team do it,\u201d Lori Stewart, the Critteraid Board president, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we made the choice that to ensure our policies of compassion were upheld and they deserve that dignity, that we did it ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critteraid also said that 12 volunteers were exposed to avian flu, but Interior Health tested all of them and cleared all 12.
\u201cWe\u2019ve never had to navigate anything like this. So the past 15 days has been excruciating, extraordinarily difficult,\u201d Stewart added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are under investigation at the moment, and so our quarantine is in full place, and we are at the point where we\u2019re doing decontamination.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Critteraid says on its website that it provides a home for a variety of rescue animals, including house pets, barnyard animals such as pigs, goats and cows, as well as ducks and chickens.<\/p>\n

Fifty-four animals are listed in total.<\/p>\n

The situation has required \u201cimmediate action\u201d and \u201ccoordination\u201d with Interior Health, veterinary professionals and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the organization promises to handle the situation with transparency and accuracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be very clear: we are not hiding anything from the community,\u201d the post says on Facebook. \u201cWe are simply trying to move through this with care, accuracy, and integrity while also supporting our animals and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The post goes on to say that staff and volunteers are \u201csimply consumed with this horror\u201d and that the \u201csituation is still active and regulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a statement to Global News, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed that \u201cHighly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected at BC-IP252, a non-commercial, non-poultry premises in the District of Summerland on October 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) works directly with owners to help explain next steps for any exposed birds and any requirements an owner must fulfill when a premises is declared to be infected with avian influenza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CFIA is not releasing additional details to help protect the privacy of the sanctuary staff and volunteers who are dealing with a significant setback.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOstrich cull complete at B.C. farm, flock of birds shot dead, CFIA says\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The announcement comes shortly after the cull<\/a> and disposal of what CFIA says were 314 ostriches at Universal Ostrich farm near Edgewood, B.C.<\/p>\n

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Critteraid has asked for patience and understanding at this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you need to reach us, please do so with kindness,\u201d the post says. \u201cOur fragile hearts are fragile right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

-with files from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An animal sanctuary in B.C.\u2019s interior says it is facing a \u201cheartbreaking\u201d experience after discovering a positive case…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[7394,49,48,126349,62870,84],"class_list":["post-276243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-avian-flu","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-critteraid","tag-h5n1","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}