The Canadian Ostrich Farm Scandal EXPOSED! – HIDDEN Facts (Full Story)
Episode Stats
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138.01129
Summary
Nearly 400 healthy ostriches have survived an outbreak of avian flu in Canada, but the government still wants to kill them all. The farmers and scientists argue that the birds have the strongest immune system of any animal in the world, and that they could be the key to finding a cure for bird flu. But the Food Inspection Agency says no.
Transcript
00:00:06.000
Turns out that there's a bird here that's had a rope around his neck for the past two
00:00:12.440
They're trying to get him, and every time they go up to the bird, it's running away.
00:00:37.020
You know, if one of the farmers were in there, 10 minutes.
00:00:39.400
Okay, and not going to be out there suffering, so I'd like to try and discuss with you.
00:00:44.940
An Indian tribe just said that this is unceded territory, and these birds are not to be touched.
00:00:56.480
Let's talk about the situation with Universal Ostrich Farms in rural British Columbia,
00:01:04.400
and how nearly 400 healthy ostriches almost got wiped out by a government order.
00:01:11.660
Back in December, a few birds on this farm tested positive for avian flu.
00:01:21.760
The survivors, almost 400 of them, they've been thriving ever since.
00:01:26.140
No new deaths, no fresh outbreaks, just strong, healthy animals.
00:01:31.800
Now, any sane person will look at that and say, wait, these birds might hold some answers.
00:01:42.540
The rulebook says if there's an outbreak, the whole flock must die.
00:01:50.620
Doesn't matter that the disease burned through months ago.
00:01:58.040
Doesn't matter that farmers and scientists are begging for a closer look.
00:02:05.620
Tense moments at an ostrich farm near Edgewood in southeastern B.C.
00:02:09.500
I hope your family suffers the most imaginable worst thing in the world, just like you're doing to them.
00:02:16.040
As supporters of the farm and its flock of 400 birds come face to face with the agency that ordered their call.
00:02:22.780
A lot of people want to know why you're a psychopath.
00:02:26.260
Officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency arriving at the farm early Monday morning.
00:02:32.960
Along with dozens of RCMP officers as they work to clear the property using a search warrant ahead of executing its depopulation order.
00:02:41.780
The representative for the farm has been very clear that she doesn't want any violence.
00:02:50.800
And so there has been some rhetoric online that we certainly have seen some threats.
00:02:55.940
But we haven't seen any of that today and we don't anticipate that.
00:03:00.120
It is just heartbreaking because every RCMP officer out here has the right, the ability to say,
00:03:09.440
I believe they know there's no virus in these birds now.
00:03:17.080
We've got the animal with the strongest immune system of any animal in the world.
00:03:22.200
With the CFIA on site preparing to depopulate the flock, time for the birds is quickly running out.
00:03:28.440
Meaning plans to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada
00:03:31.580
and filing the necessary application by the October 3rd deadline is looking less and less likely.
00:03:40.920
The farm owners, Karen Espersen and Dave Belinsky, tried everything.
00:03:47.360
Court challenges, petitions, even offers to move the flock.
00:03:52.580
But the federal courts backed the CFIA, ruling that the extermination was necessary.
00:03:59.180
It looked like the bulldozers and the killing crews were days away.
00:04:06.560
Just today, the Supreme Court of Canada hit pause.
00:04:12.280
It doesn't overturn the lower courts, but it stops the CFIA from killing the birds
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while the justices decide whether to hear the full case.
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RFK Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, actually weighed in back in May.
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He sent a formal letter to Ottawa saying that these ostriches have significant scientific value.
00:04:43.540
He argued that the survivors could hold natural immunity that might help unlock better tools
00:04:54.320
Senior officials from the FDA and the NIH were on board, too.
00:05:07.300
I sent something to your office on ostriches in Canada where these are ancient animals
00:05:15.680
and they have a natural healing process, antibiotics in their eggs.
00:05:21.280
And they're in danger because the pharmaceutical companies want to kill them
00:05:28.360
Yeah, and, you know, I think that was a huge mistake to liquidate that ostriches.
00:05:38.460
They're not badly affected by bird flu, and we should not be killing them.
00:05:42.960
We should be studying them to find out, you know, how these are alive.
00:05:49.320
I'm trying to talk to the courts up there that they should not take the influences they're getting
00:05:56.060
from the pharmaceutical companies and killing them.
00:06:00.360
And whatever help your office can do, we welcome it.
00:06:07.160
I'm horrified by the idea that they're going to kill these animals.
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U.S. allies and private backers floated a relocation plan.
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Secure them and test their blood, their eggs, and their antibodies.
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In other words, better to be consistent than right, I guess.
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Because, let's face it, if a flock of ostriches can survive a flu strain and teach us how, that's
00:07:03.800
The healthy survivors could have been a natural laboratory.
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They could have provided data on resistance genetics and immunity.
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Instead, the government wanted to wipe them out in the name of policy.
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That sounds more like protecting entrenched interest.
00:07:24.560
Look, nobody denies that sick animals need humane management.
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Evidence that might save flocks, farms, maybe even people down the line.
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And it's telling that it took the Supreme Court to slow this down.
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The highest court in the country has to step in just to stop bureaucrats from destroying
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healthy animals before the science can even be done.
00:08:05.140
What kind of government chooses blind obedience to a manual over the chance to learn something
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What kind of government refuses to work with international scientists and U.S. health leaders
00:08:20.440
What kind of government tells its citizens, trust the science?
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While bulldozing the very science in front of them.
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Do we protect bureaucracy or do we protect possibility?
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Do we follow outdated rules or do we ask better questions for a change?
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The CFIA still holds custody and they're still pushing for the call.
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The Supreme Court has given them until October 3rd to respond.
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After that, the justices will decide if this flock gets a fair hearing or a death sentence.
00:09:03.240
This farm in rural B.C. has exposed a bigger truth.
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That our government would rather destroy than admit that they may be wrong.
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That big pharma would rather see potential cures buried than lose their monopoly on treatments.
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And that sometimes, common sense is the most radical thing of all.
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And stop letting bureaucrats and big corporations decide who and what gets to survive.
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