RFK-backed ostrich farm fighting H5N1 cull boasted of turning birds into pet food

Telegraph

2 days ago

An H5N1-infected ostrich farm which has become a cause célèbre among animal rights campaigners and the US health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, once boasted of 'rendering' the birds down in vats so that their oil could be used in cosmetics and pet food.
Universal Ostrich Farms, located in British Columbia, made headlines earlier this month after its owners claimed they were being unfairly ordered to cull their flock of around 400 birds by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The cull order came after the CFIA said that several of the animals had contracted H5N1, the deadly avian flu virus that has decimated bird populations worldwide and which experts fear could one day jump to humans.
Thousands of similar cull orders have been issued to infected farms around the world as the virus has spread, but the Canadian ostriches appear to have won a brief stay of execution after being swept up in the US-Canadian culture wars.
A 'Save our Ostriches' campaign launched by the farm's owners has been jumped on by both animal rights activists and MAGA supporters in the US.
Some 69 ostriches have died on the farm since an outbreak began in December last year, when PCR testing came back positive for H5N1.
The farm's owners demanded the CFIA carry out further testing but their request was denied, and they are now claiming that the remaining birds have developed 'herd immunity,' catching the eye of RFK Jr, who has petitioned to have the birds relocated to Florida for further testing.
Scientists have called the proposal both dangerous and irresponsible, given the serious risks any infected birds pose to public health.
The farm's new 'Save Our Ostriches' website certainly pulls at the heartstrings but the contrast with the original website, still available through the internet archive, could not be sharper.
While the new site urges readers to donate up to $1,000 or more to save the 398 remaining birds, the original site talked of 'processing and rendering' and selling the 'meat, skin and oil' of ostriches all over the world.
'Full vertical integration improves quality, increases efficiency, and boosts profitability,' the original website reads.
'Help save Anna. She's feisty, confident, and always full of attitude,' says the new, MAGA-friendly site today, beneath a cutesy picture of a fluffy and determined looking bird.
Ostrich meat is imported and sold in Britain, including at major supermarkets but it is not clear if burgers and steaks from Universal Ostrich Farms were ever sold here.
In British Columbia, Katie Pasitney, the daughter of one of the farm's owners, Karen Espersen, and now acting spokesperson for both her mother and business partner Dave Bilinski, has appeared in several emotional videos in recent weeks appealing for public help and support.
The farm says the birds have not been used for meat since 2020, and are now mainly involved in medical research – specifically, the extraction of antibodies from ostrich eggs.
However, official court documents from the recent dispute with CFIA contradict this claim. They state that 'some level of ostrich sales, along with sales or planned sales of products derived from ostrich fat and eggshells, continued through to at least December 2024'.
The H5N1 avian flu virus was first detected in the late 1990s, but has spread rapidly through animal populations since 2020, killing millions of wild and farmed birds as well as a huge range of mammals – including polar bears, rhinos, whales, foxes, as well as domestic pets including cats and dogs.
Thousands of poultry farms around the world – including in Britain – have been forced to cull their flocks, causing the price of eggs to skyrocket to unprecedented levels.
Last year, the virus 'jumped' into the US cattle chain and since has become endemic. More than 1,000 dairy herds have been infected with the virus, and a fifth of the country's milk supply now contains detectable traces of H5N1.
At least 70 people in the US, mostly poultry and dairy farm workers, have also caught the virus, one of whom has died.
The virus's exponential spread comes at a time when the Trump administration has dramatically cut back on the government's response to H5N1.
Just last week, the administration announced it had cancelled a $766 million contract with pharmaceutical giant Moderna for the mass-production of mRNA bird flu vaccines. The agreement was intended to strengthen the country's pandemic preparedness by diversifying its emergency H5N1 vaccine stocks.
RFK Jr, a long-time vaccine sceptic, has repeatedly expressed concerns over the safety of mRNA vaccines despite them having saved millions of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic.
President Trump has also cut funding to several departments at the US Department of Agriculture and Centre for Disease Control responsible for monitoring and containing the spread of H5N1.
It makes RFK Jr's intervention into the Canadian ostriches' fate even more baffling. 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment,' Mr Kennedy wrote in a letter to the head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Experts say the scientific value of the ostriches is minimal, as similar studies have already been conducted in other parts of the world, and transporting any sickened birds would put people and other farms at risk.
In a statement published over the weekend, the CFAI said: '[Our] response to highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry is based on an approach known as 'stamping-out', as defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).
'Stamping-out is the internationally recognised standard and is a primary tool to manage the spread of [H5N1] and mitigate risks to animal and human health as well as enable international trade.'
'Given that the flock has had multiple laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 and the ongoing serious risks for animal and human health, and trade, the CFIA continues planning for depopulation at the infected premises'.
The Telegraph contacted Universal Ostrich Farms for comment.