Ostriches may be cute, but rules is rules

A small ostrich farm in northern British Columbia had been receiving outsized media coverage in recent weeks over a government cull order for several hundred ostriches in a flock where many birds have already died from H5N1 bird flu.

Governments across the world are acting to avoid a worldwide avian flu pandemic, instituting some harsh rules. If even a single bird tests positive for avian flu, the whole flock has to be killed and carefully disposed of, and the farms are quite generously compensated for their losses. Nearly 15 million birds (mainly chickens, geese and ducks) have already been culled in Canada alone as a result, and over 173 million in the USA. 

Now, most of these were in commercial operations, where the birds don't have names or come when called. But some were in backyard flocks, and I'm sure tears were shed. Universal Ostrich Farms has, thus far, deliberately ignored the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) directive, and is playing for time,  calling for a judicial rule, among other things. The CFIA has already ruled that the farm has often disregarded "regulatory compliance and animal standards".

Now, I'm pretty sure ostriches are no more affectionate than chickens, but they are strange and curious animals, and people from all over the world people have been captivated by the news of their plight. The farm has employed unabashed emotional appeals, and is actively inviting visitors, which seems ill-advised for a facility under quarantine. It has also been hitting social media hard, trying to make this into an anti-establishment cause célèbre in the mould of the "Freedom Convoy", I guess. 

The case has also become a political football, not so much in Canada but in the hyper-politicized USA, where ultra-rightwing Rebel News has taken up the cause, as have the likes of noted anti-vaxxer (and now US Secretary of Health snd Human Services) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and broadcaster and discredited quack (and now Administrator of the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) Dr. Mehmet Oz.

But rules is rules, as someone famous once said, and Universal Ostrich Farms need to comply with them. They have already paid out $20,000 in non-compliance fines. They would get $3,000 per culled bird in compensation, so they may need to kill a few to pay off their fines.

However cute ostriches may be, as they bat their huge eyelashes, there is an international public health crisis going on, and cute just doesn't cut it.