Ostrich pen at B.C. farm looks still, empty of live birds, day after cull shooting

A holding pen at a B.C. farm that was filled with ostriches on Thursday now appears still and empty of live birds, the morning after Canadian Food Inspection Agency workers started their cull of the flock.Instead, the pen is filled with long blue tarpaulins covering objects on the ground that are also shrouded with black sheeting.The scene comes after numerous gunshots were heard overnight from inside the pen made of a high wall of hay bales, where staff with the agency had herded scores of the ostriches a day earlier.Bright floodlights and the bales obscured what was happening inside the enclosure after dark had fallen.But the CFIA says it is moving forward to “complete depopulation and disposal"” of the flock, fulfilling an order it issued more than 10 months ago in an avian flu outbreak that went on to kill 70 of the birds.The owners of the farm near Edgewood in southeastern B.C. fought the order, but on Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear their final appeal, lifting a stay on the cull.By nightfall, two RCMP vehicles were blocking the road leading to the area where supporters have been gathering at the farm, with officers turning people away, but on Friday the road was clear.A worker carrying a long bag had been seen entering the enclosure Thursday afternoon, where two tent-like structures had been set up.The farm’s owners have said the cull was unnecessary because the flock was healthy and had “herd immunity,” making them valuable for scientific research, while requesting that the birds be tested for infection.But the CFIA refused, saying ostriches that appear healthy can still be a potential source of the virus and allowing the flock to live increased the risk the virus would dangerously mutate, particularly if the birds were exposed to wildlife.The CFIA says there were about 300 to 330 ostriches remaining on the farm before the cull began.A lone RCMP officer was patrolling the field Friday morning and the scene was quiet except for the sound of generators powering CFIA and RCMP equipment around the enclosure.Hours earlier, supporters of the farm who gathered at a highway overlooking the field had been screaming at the CFIA to stop the cull after the shooting began.

Ostrich pen at B.C. farm looks still, empty of live birds, day after cull shooting

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