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Shots were heard at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., on Thursday evening.
CBC News reporters on the scene reported hearing multiple shots at the farm.
Over a 30-minute period at 6:10 p.m. PT, reporters heard about five rounds of about a dozen shots each.
It happened the same day the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear an appeal to save the flock at Universal Ostrich from a cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
- For a full account of the story that unfolded at Universal Ostrich Farms after the country’s top court declined to hear the farm’s appeal, read CBC News’ live coverage here.
That lifted any legal impediment to the killing of the flock that the CFIA says includes 300 to 330 birds.
The cull was ordered after avian flu was detected at the farm last December.
The shots came from inside an enclosure made of straw bales where the CFIA had herded scores of the ostriches.
Supporters yelled from about a dozen cars parked along the road that leads to the farm as the shots rang out.
They shouted “Stop!” and “Murderers!” amid the shots, which came after darkness fell.
The operation came after the CFIA said it was moving ahead with the “complete depopulation and disposal” of the ostriches.
The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal by a B.C. ostrich farm to stay an order to cull its flock of more than 300 birds. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it will now be “moving forward” with a cull.
Shortly before the shots were heard, CBC reporters saw field lights turn on that illuminated the straw bale enclosure that was set up by the CFIA to pen in the ostriches.
Reporters also heard a drone flying above.
CBC News has reached out to the CFIA for more information.
