Canadian government kills ostriches afflicted by H5N1 despite appeal from RFK Jr.

After an 11-month legal standoff, the Canadian government on 8 November culled a flock of farm-raised ostriches that had survived an outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1.

Despite appeals to save the birds—coming from an unusual coalition that included U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and protesters who criticized government overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic—Canada’s Supreme Court on 6 November dismissed an appeal from the birds’ owners to stay their execution. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) then corralled all 314 remaining ostriches behind hay bales and had sharpshooters kill them at Universal Ostrich Farms. “The disposal followed all biosecurity and biocontainment protocols to mitigate the risk of spreading HPAI,” a CFIA statement says.