Dr. Oz offers to keep targeted Canadian ostriches at his Fla. ranch: ‘Have to get them out'
Dr. Oz has joined the flock.
The TV doc-turned-Trump administration bigwig is adding his name to a bid to rescue hundreds of ostriches facing a death sentence in Canada — offering his sprawling Florida ranch as the flock's new home.
'We're sticking our necks out for the birds,' said Oz, whose full name is Mehmet Cengiz Oz, to The Post on Monday.
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Oz threw his ranch into the ring after Big Apple supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis announced he was joining activists trying to save 400 of the flightless birds facing certain death in British Columbia over bird-flu fears and then US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. followed suit.
'The Canadians should stop putting their heads in the sand,' Oz said. 'We just have to get [the ostriches] out of Canada.
5 Mehmet Cengiz Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, has offered his Florida ranch to house hundreds of Canadian ostriches headed for the death chamber amid bird-flu fears.
CHRIS KLEPONIS/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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'It doesn't help anyone to kill all the birds.'
Oz is offering his 900-acre ranch in Okeechobee, Fla., as a solution — leading to an overjoyed Catsimatidis, an animal lover.
'I'm thrilled,' Catsimatidis told The Post on Monday. 'Bring the ostriches to Dr. Oz in Florida where they will be safe. I agree with RFK and Dr. Oz that the ostriches aren't sick.'
The Canadian government has insisted the birds need to be destroyed because the deadly, highly contagious flu was found in two ostrich carcasses on the farm in December.
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But Oz and other supporters of the remaining ostriches said the avian virus likely ran its course through the flock already and that the remaining birds probably have immunity.
'We should study the birds to see the likelihood of them getting infected,' he said. 'The Canadians don't seem to want to do this.'
5 Canadian officials said about 400 ostriches in British Columbia need to be put down to stop the spread of avian flu.
Gusak – stock.adobe.com
5 US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kenney Jr. and. Oz are birds of a feather when it comes to the ostriches.
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On Friday, Kennedy shot off a letter to the Canadian agency urging its officials to think it over.
'Ostriches can live up to 50 years, providing the opportunity for future insights into immune longevity associated with the H5N1 virus,' Kennedy wrote.
'The indiscriminate destruction of entire flocks without up-to-date testing and evaluation can have significant consequences, including the loss of valuable genetic stork that may help explain risk factors for H5N1 mortality,' the letter said. This may be important for future agricultural resilience.'
5 Big Apple mogul John Catsimatidis (center) brought more national attention to the ostriches' plight.
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5 A flock of ostriches in Canada could be put down because officials fear the spread of avian flu in the Great White North.
Facebook/Universal Ostrich Farm
Catsimatidis praised Kennedy for the move, and Oz, who is the administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also quickly got on board.
He said he spoke directly to the ostrich-farm owner, who seemed open to the idea of transferring the birds to his US property.
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'I can house the birds. She agreed,' Oz said.
'It's not just about ostriches,' Oz said. 'It's about all the birds. I'd rather the scientists make the determination — not bureaucrats. We found out what happened during the COVID pandemic, when the bureaucrats made all the decisions.'
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