A court battle has ensued, with the farm owners arguing the ostriches should be kept alive to be studied for potential treatments. Although the court rejected the initial argument, the federal appeals court last month paused the order <\/a>as it reviewed the matter; the court heard arguments in the case this week.<\/p>\n Amid the legal challenges the birds have found an unlikely ally to the south: RFK Jr.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secretary has urged Canada not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus,\u201d a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save 400 Canadian ostriches from being culled (REUTERS)<\/p>\n The health secretary wrote a letter<\/a> to the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in May, urging the agency not to go through with plans to eradicate the flock and instead test the birds\u2019 antibodies: \u201cWe believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment at the Universal Ostrich Farm.\u201d <\/p>\n The cull was ordered as part of a so-called \u201cstamping-out\u201d policy, used to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to humans or animals, according to the agency.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n A screengrab from a video capturing two ostriches resting at the Universal Ostrich Farm, where the Canadian government has ordered for 400 birds to be culled due to avian flu exposure (Katie Pasitney \/ Facebook)<\/p>\n \u201cAllowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to [bird flu] to remain alive means a potential source of the virus persists. It increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife,\u201d the agency explained<\/a> in a May release after the federal court dismissed the farm owners\u2019 applications for judicial review.<\/p>\n This week, Kennedy \u2014 along with Trump\u2019s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and billionaire John Catsimatidis \u2014 sent letters to Prime Minister Mark Carney pressing his government to alter its policy, Politico reported.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Hundreds of birds remain symptom-free months after 69 birds died after being exposed to bird flu, according to the farm owners’ lawyer (Katie Pasitney)<\/p>\n According to CBC, Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, thanked the trio for their efforts, saying on Tuesday: “I guess we’ll just see where that goes from here because we do know that Dr. Oz and RFK are very passionate about this, just as well as John Catsimatidis.”<\/p>\n In court on Tuesday, Umar Sheikh, a lawyer for the farm owners, similarly argued that the government’s policy was too strict, noting that hundreds of ostriches still exhibit no symptoms of avian flu. Only two birds tested positive for the virus before the cull was ordered, he said.<\/p>\n![\"HHS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HHS-Secretary-Robert-F--Kennedy-Jr--wants-to-save-400-Canadian-ostriches-from-being-culled.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/A-screengrab-from-a-video-capturing-two-ostriches-resting-at-the-Universal-Ostrich-Farm-where-the-Ca.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hundreds](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hundreds-of-birds-remain-symptom-free-months-after-69-birds-died-after-being-exposed-to-bird-flu-acc.png\")
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