Nine months after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) slaughtered hundreds of ostriches at a British Columbia farm, the owners have been dealt another blow: the federal agency says it won’t pay them a cent in compensation.
On this week’s episode of The Gunn Show, I’m joined by Rebel News B.C. Bureau Chief Drea Humphrey, who has followed the battle at Universal Ostrich Farms from the beginning and was on the ground as the fight to save the flock unfolded.
The CFIA destroyed more than 300 ostriches at the Edgewood farm following a lengthy legal battle over a suspected avian flu outbreak, despite the farmers maintaining the surviving birds were healthy and had recovered.
Under federal rules, compensation could have reached as much as $3,000 per ostrich, meaning the farm potentially stood to receive up to $942,000. Instead, the CFIA informed the family in a July 20 letter that “compensation will not be awarded,” citing alleged violations of the Health of Animals Act and incidents of alleged non-compliance.
Farm co-owner Karen Esperson believes the decision is punishment for fighting the government’s destruction order.
“They’re saying we’re actually going to destroy your livelihood,” Esperson told Rebel News.
The family, already carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from its legal battle, plans to appeal.
Drea also joins Sheila to discuss Rebel News’ upcoming full-length documentary, Culling the Cure: The Aftermath of Canada’s Ostrich Slaughter, which chronicles the farmers’ fight, the controversial cull and what happened after the cameras left.
The documentary premieres in Kelowna on September 18 before additional screenings across Canada.
Tonight, Drea takes us behind the scenes of the story, what the farmers are facing now, and what Canadians will see in Culling the Cure.
Hellbound and Down 