Animal Justice: CFIA Ostrich Cull Violated Criminal Code & Was ‘Not Humane

Anchor:
The method of the cull was contrary to the federal Criminal Code and BC’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Joining me now to discuss is Camille Labchuk — she’s the Executive Director of Animal Justice Canada.

Good morning, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Camille Labchuk (Animal Justice):
Good morning, and thanks for having me.

Anchor:
So, describe in more detail the complaint that Animal Justice is filing following the cull of those birds last week.

Camille:
We were deeply concerned to see the methods employed to kill the birds.
There’s also a fundamental question of whether the birds should have been killed at all — a full year after they were infected.

All indications are that they were very likely healthy, yet the CFIA would not retest them.

Those concerns were further compounded by the way the birds were killed. Nearly 400 ostriches were rounded up into a hay-bale pen, and marksmen were brought in to shoot them.

This is inappropriate for a number of reasons.
The CFIA’s own manual says shooting birds is not a good idea and should only be a last resort. Ostriches have very small heads, so you can imagine marksmen trying to shoot such a small, difficult target — especially when the birds are terrified, running around, and watching each other being shot to death.

That is not an easy task, and certainly not a humane one.

There are indications there were hundreds of shots, and that the final round wasn’t heard until the next morning — which means some birds were likely still alive overnight.

The CFIA may have had the legal authority to carry out a cull, but that does not mean they can use methods that are cruel when less cruel methods were available.

Anchor:
So what alternative methods or actions…?