Ezra Levant exposes how mainstream media like CBC and Global News allegedly bury the truth of Universal Ostrich Farms’ 266-day quarantine, where 400 healthy ostriches—research animals for COVID-19 immunity studies—face CFIA-ordered culling despite natural resistance. Leaked footage shows neglect, including Spirit’s drone-caused injuries and CFIA’s refusal to let farmers intervene. Global News cameraman Sidney Fizzard claims aggression from protesters but was also accused of hostile behavior, while a neighbor reports an assault by a masked farm supporter. The irony? Canada destroys ostriches while global labs genetically engineer chickens to mimic their flu-resistant traits, raising questions about bureaucratic overreach and science over compassion. [Automatically generated summary]
You know, we've done almost 100 stories on the ostrich farm.
Sometimes I call Rebel News the Ostrich News Network.
We've really covered the story well.
And I think that's part of the way to fight back because, like the truckers, the entire establishment is on the other side of this.
But we are there with the people and with the ostriches.
So that's today's show.
It's really a visual story.
You really have to see it.
Can you do me a favor and go to RebelNewsPlus.com and click subscribe?
That's just eight bucks a month, which might not sound like a lot to you, but it really adds up for us.
It allows us to pay our bills because we take no money from the government and its shows.
Tonight, the best of our coverage of the ostrich farm.
It's October 17th, and this is the Ezra Levant show.
Shame on you, you sensorious bug.
Oh, hi, everybody.
You know, the ostrich story is on hold a little bit because the Supreme Court of Canada is still weighing whether or not they're going to hear the case.
In the meantime, as I showed you yesterday, the CBC is in full character assassination mode.
It's really deeply embarrassing to see how easily they're let around like a poodle by this Liberal government.
But if you want real reporting, well, that's where the independent press, the citizen journalists, that's their time to shine.
So today, let me introduce you to what I call the best of our ostrich coverage.
Now, it's just a small fraction.
We have close to 100 reports we've done on the subject.
And I believe that Rebel News has some paternity over the fact that the world is talking about these ostriches now.
Certainly not the regime media, which have tried to cover up the story or defame the farmers.
So enjoy our coverage from almost a year ago when Drea first got the news.
And even myself and Sheila Gunn Reed and Sidney Fazard and others on our team have gone down there and will continue to follow the story to see how it unfolds.
So, for the rest of the show, here is the best of our ostrich coverage.
Katie, another miracle.
The birds are alive.
Yes, they are.
And they are eating their hay right now and they're in the sunshine and happy and it's 271 days.
Ostrich Miracle00:10:15
Animals that are healthy and alive.
I always refer back to that Monday though when they showed up and I believe I want to stop it there and say that's when they were the healthiest.
You know, and the happiest because they had us around them caring for them and they weren't being neglected.
So, but again, we can just be grateful for the miracle as we enter the weekend that these animals are still alive behind us and what we're all fighting for is working.
Yeah, suddenly things looked a whole lot better when your veterinarian was scheduled to come on site and look through things.
All of a sudden they seem to be eating well and things like that.
But let's talk about making it to Thanksgiving weekend.
Myself and Sheila are going to go home for the long weekend, be with our families and Lyndon and then come back.
But what's going to be happening here on the ground?
Yes, so we have a lot to be thankful for and that is the unity, the casting away the shadow of division from mainstream media and people who continue to focus on things that just really don't pertain to this cause.
And we've talked to the RCMP and we even said to them that we would love to offer them some Thanksgiving dinners so that they eat warm meals while they're here.
This is about bridging the division and this is about saying we're all human, but we got to recognize where our faults are and where we can stand up and create unity and be powerful.
So there's a lot of turkeys thank you to whoever has donated turkeys to the farm for the supporters and for the family to eat a really wonderful Thanksgiving meal this weekend and resources or other products such as potatoes and gravies and vegetables.
So I think there is going to be a beautiful we are having a good dinner here this weekend.
There'll be prayer, like we always have, and there is going to be a fantastic conversation, as always, with a warm fire.
But there's a lot to be grateful for and I think we just have to stay focused on the change that is possible here.
You know these animals are heartbeats.
We have to continue to be their voices and call out those people that are actually directly, you know, in conflict with with creating negligence, the negligence and the inhumane handling of our animals.
That are our animals.
Well, there you have it.
If you're seeing this video, that means the birds are safe for Thanksgiving weekend, because we will not post until the Supreme Court is closed for the long weekend.
Any final words?
I think just really reminding the general public and everybody around the world that is watching, this is a much deeper issue and I keep being reminded of that.
I want to say this is about trade politics, but what we're really dealing with here with the antibody research that we've been involved in for the last four to five years is that we have something substantial and we have something that goes against the vaccine reliance, the push of that with big pharma.
We have the World Health Organization that has been leading the charge with the World Animal Health Organization.
And we need to really directly, I think, ask these organizations how can we better protect countries that are involved in taking their directives.
So could it be as simple for these animals behind me, pulling them out of poultry?
And let's show that we can work together.
These animals are not poultry.
They offer extreme, you know, advanced scientific advantage in therapeutics with the antibodies that they hold.
One ostrich egg is equivalent to 100 chicken eggs worth of antibodies.
And there is a natural way to target the viruses and disease in the future.
And it stands behind me.
So do we contact them maybe and ask them, you know, why can't we just do this?
Is there a better way?
How do we work together better together as nations?
Could we as nations still trade, but maybe offer farms an exemption of, say, 42 days and, you know, two 21-day periods of testing, isolation, or isolation, testing, and monitoring, but still be allowed to trade while we are in isolation and while until we are testing clear.
But again, because the really sad fact about is the animals behind me, the vet had said to our vet that was out there, a Canadian food inspection agency, that even if they all test negative, they have to die.
So we have to address that problem.
But yeah, so we're dealing with non-elected governing bodies, the World Health Organization and the World Animal Health Organization, giving us directives as a country.
So on a federal, provincial, and municipal level, we're really not making the decisions for Canadians.
And we need to protect our farms.
And we're dealing with overreach from bureaucrats because I noticed in the court cases, when convenient, the CFIA points to the international, you know, stamping out policy that's recognized coming from the WHO.
But then when you point out that they're superseding that, well, then all of a sudden, well, no, no, it's our policy and things like that.
So on the overstepping the jurisdiction or the, you know, look at the warrants that we received.
My aunt and uncle have a property here on this quarantine side.
That is her private property yet.
They were able to obtain a search warrant on their property that goes till October 22nd.
My aunt has arrived.
They're allowing her to sleep in her trailer.
They've owned this property for 18 years.
And but they are not allowed to wander around their own yard.
They have a garden they need to get their garlic out of.
And the RCMP has communicated with the CFIA.
Listen, this little family just wants to get their garlic out of their garden so that it's harvested and they don't lose years of their work, of their work.
And the answer is completely no from CFIA.
What is wrong from a family wanting to go under even, they said, even if the RCMP watched them, just pick their garlic.
That's all they're asking for.
There is such an overreach with no oversight for the CFIA that again, we're just screaming from the mountaintops for accountability, you know, no more oversight and for them to have less freedom for making their own rules.
And the RCMP should be able to overrule that and say, no, we're going to let this little family pick their garlic.
They're doing nothing wrong.
I think the RCMP are really surprised with what they're seeing here too.
I have a full interview with your cousin, Allison, going even in more depth about what's happening to them now that they've returned to what should be their property but is being held hostage by the CFIA.
That will be at savetheostriches.com.
I'll be following what's happening from my home.
You know, so my husband proof of life for my husband.
Thank you.
And you're giving me time.
This weekend is about family.
We got to celebrate family and we have to be celebrating, you know, even what you do for as a journalist and what you're bringing.
You're bringing the truth to the screen and we need more, we need more of that.
So you can go and celebrate in what you guys do as Rebel.
And the mainstream media is getting so desperate.
They're really, I guess, working for the CFIA overtime, it seems, going after you guys.
Now they're starting to go after us.
They keep trying to interview that Angela doctor Angela Rasmundsen saying she's impartial.
She's working in the vaccine department in the University of Saskatchewan.
And if you look, Toronto Star came out, put this garbage piece.
They want to make this political.
They want to politicize these birds.
And they tried to say far right Rebel News.
Well, it always backfires when they actually name Rebel News because now more will see what's really going on here.
And thank you guys for always being invested in this story, just like myself here.
Thank you, Katie, for the fight on behalf of farmers across the country and so many different layers of freedom.
Freedom for property, farming, food rights, livelihoods, scientific freedoms.
Science over speculation.
Let's go for that again.
Discovery over destruction.
And you know what?
The RCMP have made their statements to us and I want to thank you for that.
They said in all the support groups and protesting that they've ever seen, they've never seen such a kind group that is so focused and dedicated on what they're fighting for.
And that's the ostriches survival.
Because we all know where that has a ripple effect to go once these animals are gone.
If we can't save them, then what farm is safe in Canada due to a broken policy?
But the RCMP said we're not extremists.
I mean, you know, that all the labeling Angela Rasmussen, we're not extremists.
I'm not a cult leader.
I mean, you know, no one's going to the train station here.
So we're good.
There's no Kool-Aid.
There is no Kool-Aid in that tent.
No Kool-Aid in that tent.
There is a tea.
It's a very delightful tea that's going around with citrusy pudding.
But I thank you.
And a happy Thanksgiving to you, Drea and to your family.
Thank you so much.
We love you.
That's where I want to stay.
On the
Call for Accountability00:15:33
RCMP to do their job as well and not allow an organization to hide behind their badges and hide behind their tape and allow them to commit animal acts of animal cruelty.
And they should be charged.
We're calling on Courtney Fotheringham and Troy Bork and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to be charged for animal cruelty.
We have the evidence.
There should be a full investigation done on this.
This should not be just left alone.
Righteous outrage is taking place at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia.
Many of you have been following our reports at savetheostriches.com.
So you already know that this farm has been held captive by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, who's hell-bent on culling what was a healthy flock of nearly 400 ostriches who've been healthy and asymptomatic from the avian flu for 266 days.
But the story has taken a dark turn.
Now, when the CFIA has their care and has barred and arrested two of the farmers who are forbidden from caring and even seeing their animals up close, we now see that allegations that the CFIA neglected an injured hen named Spirit are panning out to really look true.
In recent days, we've seen leaked footage come forward that we've published at Rebel News that showed the hen in a complete deteriorated state from the last time the farmers had seen her to when they were in their care and she was dying alone.
But now footage has also shown what appears to be CFIA officials taking the electrolytes the farmers have been pleading with them to give the sick bird who is now dead and pretending to do so.
I've reached out to the CFIA at the time of this report.
I have not heard back.
But here is what Katie Pissitney, spokesperson for the farm and adult daughter of co-owner of the farm, had to say.
All right, Katie, it's been about a week of this standoff and it's getting more and more dark each day.
We saw the leaked footage of Spirit dying alone.
And now the footage has come out that appears to show, well, why don't you describe what it shows?
Yeah, we were just fortunate enough, and I say fortunate because this gives us an opportunity of leverage to show the Canadian people what the organization is clearly hiding from, is there are acts of animal cruelty.
There was a drone that went in and we've been had been asking for days just a visual on her.
Pictures, can we see her?
could we have Dave go in and actually administer the tubing?
Then we found out from amazing supporters here, they took footage that that electrolyte bag was being dumped out in an area that was way far away from where she was even where she has been.
And that was really, really disheartening to see that an organization that is in the care of our animals would be lying to us and not be treating them like we've treated them for 35 years and giving them the care that they need.
So we found out that she wasn't getting her electrolytes, so she would have been severely dehydrated.
Somebody here just finally said, I'm putting a drone in.
And we got footage of her in her last moments alone and no Canadian Food Inspection Agency people around her throwing her head back, which is a very clear sign.
We know that sign.
It's a sign of dying.
And it broke our hearts because we would have been with her.
She would have never been dehydrated.
She would have been cared for.
And it was an eye-opener, though, that, you know, I think the world needs to understand that this organization is operating.
They're operating behind the tape.
They're being able to hide behind police tape.
They're hiding behind good men and women in badges.
And they're allowed to do whatever they want.
And they have to be held accountable.
They haven't been able to be held accountable ever.
And they're being watched.
And I said to them, a direct quote, you know, a direct statement to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, you can't hide from this.
The world is watching.
The world's going to continue to watch.
You can't hide.
What are you going to do?
Now, after this footage was out and exposed, the CFIA did put out a statement.
We've covered that before.
I've linked it below.
They claim they followed the protocol that you, the farmers, have been requesting.
I just want to clarify something.
When you were getting quite understandably emotional with the RCMP saying, let us get over there before we knew for sure she passed.
You got us dogma.
This is cruelty.
This is animal cruelty.
Please, please stop them.
Please stop them.
Please stop them.
Please let us just be with her.
Let us just be with her.
I think it's beyond treatment now.
This is our family.
They told us yesterday she was moving around and she was packing and getting up and like...
Family doesn't just look...
And it took us going public and saying that.
She's pulling them out today for the moment.
These are everything we've ever loved.
She's dying alone, kicking her head back.
She's in my mouth.
God, please take her.
Please.
God, please take her in peace.
This is so unfair.
This is animal culture.
They're hiding.
Canadian food inspection agencies hide behind their yellow tape.
They're hiding.
They're hiding behind really important power.
They're hiding.
They're cowards.
They're cowards in suits that don't even follow their own policy.
Was that the footage you had saw, them taking the bag and then walking back with it?
That was just prior to that.
So just prior to that.
So we had the emotion of them lying to us, which we've kind of known.
Why would you cut our cameras?
Why would you tape them over?
Police wear body cams.
Why are the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in such a big situation that they're under the spotlight, especially not be camering everything, their movements and their actions and following their protocol and caring for the animals under their care properly?
And then obviously then we found out that she, we saw the footage of her dying and it was a really big moment.
I think the police, we had the police crying.
The RCMP were crying because she was right there.
And that's what I said.
She's right there and she's dying alone.
And so it took us days to get the anti-inflammatory really approved and for them to really get a vet working with her.
The lack of communication and transparency from the Canadian and Food Inspection Agency with our family has been alarming.
You talk to your vet, we'll talk to your vet.
They're just cutting you out completely.
You email us, we'll email you.
And as we know, emails are not immediate.
So then you go to their police liaisons.
The police liaisons will talk to the RCMP directly and then they go to talk to Canadian Food Inspection Agency and come back with a message.
Are we in grade school?
Like, stop being cowards and come to the fence.
And the liaison, to be fair, they thought they were doing a good thing.
They thought they were giving the electrolytes.
So I'm going to reach out to the RCMP about what they have to say about that role in there.
And it appears what we're doing here.
Now, I want to get some things clear because when you're looking at the footage, we have the full, it's around five minutes.
They start walking around here.
They go over to an area.
They become a little, you can't see what they're doing behind the bush.
Tell us why you know that's where spirit wasn't and tell us how long it would normally take because they go and come back within five minutes on this live stream.
So you would go, she was not.
So there's sections of our farm.
We knew where she was being housed.
It is an injure pen, an injury pen.
So we have one that is just half blind that would normally stay in there, one that had a broken toe, and they just stay in there to stay safe so they're not amongst the general population so that they could get injured more.
And that's where Spirit had been put.
We knew that from the PLTs and description.
And so when we saw them walking behind the middle of our farm, behind a barn where we knew clearly she wasn't, and then within that time span, not at all.
They were walking.
They were on foot.
They never drove.
And then they went behind the bushes with this bag, came out.
But the footage as well is them at the very far back corner.
So we're talking even that walking distance is a long ways away.
And them having the bag still and somebody doing something behind the bag, draining it out.
We knew, so tubing a hen, I mean, you're going in, you're checking her welfare, you're sitting with her, you're going to be placing that tube slowly down her inner throat.
You're going to be administering those electrolytes.
You're going to be holding her head up, making sure she's getting all of that down.
You're monitoring her for a little bit after, making sure she's okay.
And that doesn't happen in five minutes.
Yeah, including the walk.
And that's what really stood out to me, especially seeing how weak of a state the bird was in.
There's no way, I mean, it's hard to give kids medicine within five minutes, let alone that situation.
She's really dehydrated.
She was suffering.
And again, no animal should have been suffering alone.
They should have had regular vet care, watching her, monitoring her.
And especially in the situation, these aren't their animals.
These are our animals.
We have an interim state order, and this is really kind of making a mockery of our justice system.
So do they just assume that they have the decision already?
Because they're acting as though they know what the Supreme Court of Canada is going to say.
Why are they allowed to operate this freely?
And, you know, preparing for the call, we understood.
Okay, moving some machinery into place, getting some equipment, but not touching our animals.
Not blocking your cameras, your property, and shielding out you and the world.
Now, last question is, what's next for you guys?
You guys are already trying to go through the Supreme Court.
We're in a waiting period for that to see what the Supreme Court decides.
But with all of this apparent neglect and I'd say animal cruelty from what it appears, what are you calling now?
What are you guys doing about that?
Well, instead of my mom and I were arrested and we were arrested for wanting to maintain the animal welfare of our animals and keep them calm, follow through with their routine. and have them comforted by the people that they knew while there was machinery and strangers going to be operating around them.
But we were arrested.
So I'm calling on the RCMP to do their job as well and not allow an organization to hide behind their badges and hide behind their tape and allow them to commit acts of animal cruelty.
And they should be charged.
We're calling on Courtney Fotheringham and Troy Bork and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to be charged for animal cruelty.
We have the evidence.
There should be a full investigation done on this.
This should not be just left alone.
They have stated that she had underlying health issues, but the mainstream media is not reporting that she didn't have underlying health issues.
She had an injury.
She was healed from.
She was doing great.
We called her spirit.
She had such a strong spirit.
And then to watch, what everybody's missing is that her injuries that she just succumbed to were the drones that were flying extremely low on the Monday from the RCMP.
She flipped a fence twice and she was injured.
So she needed her anti-inflammatories.
She needed to be tubed.
We needed to monitor that she was drinking and eating.
And that is when her health declined, was when the drones flipped her over a fence twice.
It was not declining because of anything else and underlying health conditions.
There was an injury.
And that injury is what she succumbed to.
I'll just show a quick clip of you guys calling immediately like, this bird needs help.
Look what you did.
Hi.
Do you know we put the signs up today to show us a picture of our hen?
Right?
They're not tubing her.
She's just doing the kick of death.
They're not tubing her.
They haven't taken care of her.
I know, just let me speak.
I'm just going to give PLP down for you.
If we would have just been allowed to care for her, she'd be okay.
She's dying alone.
She's dying alone right there.
We have the footage.
She's dying alone.
We would have never done that.
Our birds don't die alone.
They're loved by us.
They're cared.
She's alone laying there, dying right there.
We can't touch her.
We can't be with her.
They're not with her.
They know she's dying because we did those finishes.
She's dying alone.
This is the most painful thing.
They're right there.
They're right there.
We're not aggressive.
We're not hurting anybody.
We just want to give her love.
They've been loved for 35 years by us.
We would have never let them die alone.
She's dying by herself because we are being punished by a line, by this tape.
We're being punished.
We just, it's not fair.
We were arrested and we were trying to do the right thing and that was to feed our animals.
We expect the RCMP and that there will be follow-up charges on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and those will be responsible.
We just did just like we were.
Yes!
When an animal lays dying along the car.
And her head was drawing back, being thrown back in pain.
The people, our family, who love her, were forbidden to comfort her.
That is not protection.
That is inhumanity in uniform.
This isn't just about ostriches.
It's about truth versus control, compassion versus compliance, and the soul of a nation that once stood for integrity, decency, and freedom.
If the CFIA can hide behind armed officers to cover their fear of the accountability that they need to be held accountable for, then Canada is facing something far darker than a disease outbreak.
We are facing a moral outbreak.
One where compassion is quarantined and cruelty is being sanctioned.
That was Karen Esperson, your mother, co-owner of the farm.
I know I said last question, but you've triggered something.
Sorry, New Camera00:14:49
You're right.
We covered how the mainstream media totally twisted.
There's a saying, it's not that propaganda lies to the people.
It's that it convinces the people to lie to themselves.
And there's been a lot of that happening.
But I want to talk about Spirit again.
Is the mainstream media, as far as I can see, they're completely ignoring this very clear evidence that looks to prove that the CFIA is neglecting and has potentially contributed to Spirit's death.
Is there any coverage?
Are they reaching out to you at all about this?
Because they are following this story.
No, no, no mainstream media coverage, just a statement by Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which I went through with a rebuttal myself this morning off the government website even.
So no, I even reached out to Global just trying to say, I think we need to get some of the facts put straight.
You're putting a statement on there about them, but they're wrong.
You're leaving out she had an injury and it was due to the police drones.
And you're right, they are neglecting our animals.
Here in the front part here, you never see them feed.
They do not feed in this corner.
And if you know the farm and you know the animals, they all have areas that they that that's their area.
And so they've been herding them into this back kill pen zone, getting them comfortable with the place that they're going to murder them.
And they're neglecting all the ones that are out here that aren't eating.
They don't survive off alfalfa.
It's a very important part of their diet, which they're not turning these bales either that they're eating from because again, they don't want to deal with facing the accountability of the people.
And so they're hiding behind police tape.
They're hiding behind barns.
They're hiding in the furthest corner of our property right now.
And we have to hold this organization accountable.
It's been operating with excessive freedom, no accountability, and no oversight for years.
And so I just think right now, like I said, where are you going to hide?
The world is watching.
The world's going to continue to watch.
And we're definitely not going to stand for animal cruelty or neglect while these animals are in your care.
And we need a new way.
We need a new platform.
We need a new face.
We need a new vision.
And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency needs a complete redo.
Well, there you have it.
Katie Positni with Universal Ostrich Farms and Rebel News reporting on site.
God keep our land glorious and free.
Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Teddy Fizzard for Rebel News.
I was recently actually assaulted by a global news cameraman.
All people, a cameraman is the one who decided to assault me while I was holding a camera.
So we're going to get into this.
This is a weird story that happened while I was there at the Universal Ostrich Farms helping my coworker Drea Humphrey report on the call that the Canadian government has planned for these animals that are otherwise healthy.
It's a crazy story.
There's no reason that the government should try and murder these birds.
But we're here to talk about the incident that happened between a global news reporter and myself.
So we're going to do a quick recap here, and then you're going to see just how delusional and antagonistic this global news cameraman is.
And the point being here, if you're going to be somebody who works in the public, you're going to be somebody who tries to seek interviews, you're going to be somebody who has to deal with other people in a crowd, there's no justification for you to be as hostile as this mainstream media global news cameraman.
And hopefully, Global News takes this seriously and addresses the matter with this individual.
So in the first incident, I had no idea what was going on.
I approached as I saw him, this camera guy, and a few of the female protesters having an argument amongst themselves.
Here's that footage.
Be respectful of me.
Well, I said to you, I don't want to be filmed, and you stuffed that right in my face.
And I will do that to anyone who threatens me.
I did not threaten you.
I said I did not want that in my face and you stuck it in my face.
And you said to me, and I've got it on camera.
Get out.
Nobody wants you.
You're not welcome here.
Fake news.
I never said that.
What those people did was create a scene and make things more difficult.
So, I mean, who's this guy?
I don't know.
Who are you with?
Neutral observer right now.
No, you're not a neutral observer.
Who are you with?
Do you have a plug or something?
Is there a reason you're confronting me?
I'm not confronting you.
I'm just a neutral observer.
I'm going to ask you, are you an independent person?
I'm with Revolution.
What's that?
With Revolution.
Sorry?
Oh, yeah, yeah, that's what I thought.
What is he?
He's a journalist.
Independent journalist.
Yeah.
Okay.
I got to run over to the bin thing.
So anyway, because of him, I'm not going to talk to anybody else.
Okay.
So he's interfered before.
That's it.
No, I'm not.
I'm not going to sit with anybody.
What's your reason?
I'm not being with the news.
Why don't you kill him?
As you can see, he was hostile out of the gate and not only to them, but to me as well.
Apparently, it's my fault that he refused to interview everybody else.
I still don't understand why, but he decided not to do his job because I was filming and doing my job.
So that was incident number one.
He stormed off all pouty like a little baby and I proceeded to continue on with working.
Later on, there was a veterinarian that was from the Universal Ostrich Farms owners that was allowed to go into the facility, the quarantine off area by the RCNP, as you can see on screen.
I was set up there.
This individual came along and set up as well.
And as you can see, he then decided to confront me and grab my camera.
Now, obviously, regretfully, I was not filming prior to him grabbing my camera when he accused me of or said something about me not being a real journalist.
I'm not really quite sure what he said, but that was the reason why I started filming.
Because while we were both there at the police line, he set up, he turned around, said something to me about not being a real journalist or whatever.
And you see me in the footage, go, okay, time to turn on the camera.
And as soon as I do that, you see the cameras rolling.
Guy grabs the camera immediately.
And then what does he do?
He lies about it thereafter.
Here, check out that interaction.
Hey, how do you like that?
Don't touch my camera.
So why don't you say who you're working for?
Because it's none of your business.
Who are you?
Do you know who I am?
No, I don't.
The guy who's doing this is a jerk.
He won't say who he is.
And everyone else says who they is.
There's one person here who won't say who he is, and he's this guy who's got a banv hat on.
So good work, buddy.
Everyone else is trying to save the ostriches and you're doing this for your own benefit.
What's your objective here?
To expose you for being a nasty guy.
There's no ultimate.
You've grabbed my camera.
You've confronted me twice.
Why is it you're so aggressive?
I didn't.
You're making stuff up now.
I'm literally shooting you.
Is everything you're saying me?
Is it a lie that you grabbed my camera?
Is everything you're just asking?
Is it a lie that you grabbed my camera?
I didn't touch it.
Really?
Really?
So when people see the footage of you grabbing my camera, what do you say to that?
He's a jerk.
Right?
He's a jerk.
Is that what it is?
What did you say to him, sorry?
I saw him push your camera away.
You saw him push my camera away.
And was I coming towards him or was I standing here?
You were kind of turning around.
When he started talking to me, you mean?
Yeah, you turned around and you went like that.
Don't touch my camera.
He's a bully.
All right.
Well, people can look forward to the footage.
Good.
Hopefully you're more accurate with your other stuff than you are with this.
You'll even say who you are.
What's my name?
So you've made a lot of accusations towards me and you don't even know who I am.
No, but you won't tell me.
You won't tell me who you are.
So that gives you a terrible thing.
You're just the guy that runs up and sticks the camera right in the face.
Apparently, that's what you did, actually, and that's why I stopped and quietly observed in the background.
He saith the Lord.
Wow.
It's not of him.
Contention is not of him.
Remember that.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I don't know.
The house that's divided.
Monster.
This guy's just nasty.
Just be kind.
Push away with his camera.
It's comical as well.
He calls me nasty, and then he sets up his camera in front of where I'm filming.
You deserve respect?
Mutual respect.
Are you with him?
I'm not with you.
Can I ask what I've done to disrespect you?
You don't tell me who you are.
Is that it?
Yes.
Okay.
And then I say, how are you doing?
What's, you know, who are you working for?
If you want to be serious, you should give your name out.
And you turn that thing on, you stick it in my face.
Why don't you both, do the peace and love that we're doing here, shake your hands?
Well, then introduced yourself.
People are here for the ostriches, and you want to be a jerk.
You can't shake hands with this guy.
Try it.
I guarantee it.
Can you shake hands with me, my friend?
Yeah, I'm nice.
And then after that, this guy just kept going.
He was on a roll.
He decided to be confrontational with me again, this time with Drea Humphrey at my side.
She had just returned from some coverage that she was doing, and he decided to play nice with her to try and belittle me in this really weird fantasy world this guy was living in.
Here, check out some of those engagements.
This guy's been on my ass the whole day.
I have literally done nothing.
Yes, he has.
So he grabbed my camera.
He's already confronted people inside the campground.
So that's why I'm going to go.
Well, he would have the footage of all that.
Did you want to speak to me?
Yeah, I'll speak to you about him.
Okay.
Sure.
Turn it off.
Turn it off.
Oh, I'll stand here and do what I want to do.
Thank you.
You have no say what you do.
Well, then you'll never find out.
Well, I think he's been rolling the whole time, right?
So yeah, I'll take a look if his interpretation of what goes on here is.
Oh, no, there won't be any interpretation.
There will be footage.
There will be.
This is very who I'm working for.
I can't put him on doing this.
Well, they, they, I won't say what I want to say.
There you go.
He stepped away.
What is that?
Like, he's just been like that the whole time.
Like what, though?
Yeah, Sid is a really, yeah, Sid's a really good guy.
So be specific.
Like, state a fact.
I'm not going to with her shooting this now.
To state a fact, I mean, you know what?
I'm not an idiot.
So, there you go.
I just, I mean, if something was done to you, it should be easy to just say what it was, right?
Because you're like, oh, he was like that, but I also didn't see what you mean there.
You said you asked his name and he didn't give you his name.
That's it.
So Rebel News does not identify themselves.
I'm Jerry Humphrey with Rebel News.
You didn't even ask me my name, really.
I bet you the last time I was done.
Okay, what's your name again?
So you're not identifying yourself now.
Well, don't please.
Don't leave.
Come on.
I am just confused.
I'm just very confused.
Like, I don't know what all this hostility is.
You've been all kind of shit since he came out front.
No one's done anything to you since he came out front.
Except do their jobs, all the services.
Say what you want.
Take a deep breath.
Take a deep deep deal.
Okay, then share it.
Share it with the world.
No.
No.
Because he won't be allowed.
No, I mean, like I said, you know, we're pros, right?
We're working journalists.
You're a pro.
So then why is the attention on you?
If you're the pro, why are we even looking at you right now?
Lastly, there were a couple protesters we spoke to as well to get their recollection of the events that transpired with regards to this global news individual.
So here are a few of those interviews now.
So fill me in.
What was your interaction with this global news guy?
I went down into the tent.
I went through the side door and I had people come rushing me saying, like, you know, global news is here.
Global news is here.
And I'm working with the family here kind of thing, right?
Just sort of keeping an eye on things.
So I walked over to him and I said to him, I said, does the family know you're here?
Right?
I said, do you have permission from actually my exact words were, do you have permission from the family to be here?
This is private property is what I said to him.
And he just started on to our rant.
And I said to him, I said, excuse me, I said, do you have permission from the family to be here?
So then he was just like creating animosity and everything else like this here.
And then he went, he had the camera right in people's face.
And I said, look, these people, I said, guys, just don't answer anything.
I said, just look away and just don't answer anything.
And then he started going after Brenda the vet, right?
Because Brenda said, like, unless you have permission to be here.
So then he started following her and it was like antagonizing.
Like I said to Brenda, there's no point.
I turned her around and sort of scooted her out because again, we're trying to keep positive vibes here.
We don't need this coming in here.
So.
He's just rubbing everybody down.
No, what I did was I put my hand up in front of his camera because he was following Brenda.
It was more of an antagonizing thing.
So I put my hand up in front of the camera so that, you know, he couldn't film it or anything or come up with anything negative.
And then he turns around and he says, well, I'm going to turn around and tell the family, Katie, that you kicked us, that you kicked me out of here.
Nobody kicked him out of here.
Nobody told him to leave.
I just asked if he had permission.
That's unacceptable.
Well, I had had one very brief interaction with this man.
I was going to say gentleman.
Just right over here, he had said, if people in the kitchen could just go about their business and ignore me, I'd appreciate it.
So I went to all the ladies in the kitchen.
I said, please just ignore this man with the camera.
I think he just wants candid shots.
And then I went over to the fire pit.
And then what happened, that engagement?
How did that begin?
Well, so I was just over at the fire pit, and a couple of the ladies from the kitchen came charging over and said, this guy's being really disrespectful.
We're asking him not to film us.
He won't get out of our faces.
And so I just went, okay, I'll come and see what's going on.
I got to about the middle of the yard here.
And this guy came up and stuck his camera in my face.
And I said, please don't stick your camera in my face.
And he stuck it.
So I grabbed his camera and I pushed it down and I said, please don't put your camera in my face.
I might smash it.
As a final engagement I had with that individual, I want to point to a moment where there is a press conference happening.
A Disrespectful Filmer00:12:29
The ostrich farm owners and the veterinarian were giving a little press release to some of the media that was there.
Apparently, this global news individual was told to stay a little further away, stay aside from this engagement because it is private property.
So they have every right to tell him, you know, stand far back.
So he did that temporarily.
And then partway, halfway through their presentation on the events that happened with the veterinarian, you might see that he tried to push his way in between me and another fellow, a very nice fellow, actually, that I quite like.
But he tried to shove his way in between us.
And I wasn't sure what was happening.
I didn't even know it was him at first.
I just thought, okay, there's like, what's going on here?
I look and I see, oh, what do you know?
Global news cameraman is trying to elbow his way between us so that he can get his spot on the press conference.
How pathetic!
How pathetic do you have to be, man?
And then after, I take a step back so that I can film from a different angle, get some B-roll shots, you know, make it aesthetically pleasing for the audience.
And he scoots in to take my spot.
What is going on with this guy?
All right.
So you've seen everything that happened.
These are the engagements that this individual presented.
I don't know who he is, by the way, despite his accusation.
I know that he works for Global News.
That's what everybody believed about him.
That's how he introduced himself when he was asking questions.
I haven't dug deep into finding his first and last name because I'm not here to cause a tsunami of hate or anything like that against him.
I just want Global News to be accountable for their cameramen.
When they're out in the field, they should not be acting like violent, belligerent children.
It's a very simple fact.
If you want to be a news agency, you should at least have some integrity.
For Rebel News, I'm Sidney Fizzard.
Now, look, I'm not hurt by the incident.
I'm not going to cry about it.
He grabbed my camera.
He shouldn't have done that.
So be it.
But we have journalists in the field every day that are quite literally getting assaulted by Antifa, by random people sometimes.
Very aggressive people, very violent people, much like you see with Antifa in Quebec with our coworker Alexa Lavois.
You just saw that recently.
They're getting swarmed by violent individuals.
We are constantly under attack, be it from crazed lefties or mainstream media journalists.
So if you want to help our work, you can go to journalistdefensefund.com.
We are only here because of you, because of the crowdfunding initiatives we set out, where the public supports us.
You are the reason that we are here reporting.
So if you wanna help us and you wanna keep us safe out there, especially when we're dealing with antifil and stuff like that, go to journalistdefensefund.com.
What a ridiculous scene.
Person appears to have a string in their hand of some sort.
Or twine?
I don't think it's enough to last soothe the bird.
They may be giving up.
We just walked this line having your hand before.
Those sunglasses look very sealed up.
There's another one way down at the far end here.
Use this hole.
Just going to get you out of here.
Yep.
Anyone on the extra mobile?
Nope.
We do not condone, and nobody should ever have to go through.
So, our neighbor, this person was out in broad daylight doing something.
It was filmed.
But, our supporters, it is really important to really frame this as our supporters were screaming at this individual to come to the street, come to the street, and come to the RCMP.
We were having negotiations at the front, and the negotiations were just talking about what to expect.
The family is their search warrants, what is going on.
We put everything on hold, and we brought in the RCMP immediately to take care of the situation to make sure that our neighbors' welfare was taken care of utmost, firstmost.
And that's what our priority was.
Our mission has stayed the same since day one: we're here to protect life.
Drea Humphrey here with Rebel News back at 301 Lang Jill Road.
Many of you know that address.
It's the address of Universal Ostrich Farms, whose farmers are currently in a standoff with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, who's embedded on their property, as well as the RCMP.
The CFIA wants to go ahead with a call order to call nearly 400 healthy ostriches who had a sickness, the avian flu, according to the agency, go through the herd back in December.
The farmers have continued to try to fight for the right for the birds to live, saying that they are healthy and asymptomatic.
And right now, we just await the Supreme Court to decide whether or not they're going to be able to continue fighting for such in the Supreme Court.
But as we wait, I want to bring you a story within a story.
Those of you who have been watching my coverage at savetheostriches.com over several months know that there is never a dull day on this farm.
And when the entourage of cops and CFIA officials descended on the property and the farmers were devastated in their pens, and the supporters were out here on this very road where they were descending, something else occurred at the exact same time.
Allegedly, the farmer's neighbors who lives here, Lois Wood, was assaulted.
At the time, I was running around trying to catch negotiations with the officers, trying to catch what the heck the screaming was about, trying to find out who done it and have footage of that that you have never seen before.
I'm also going to talk to Katie about what we now know is Lois's claims that it was a devastating attack, something horrific for an elderly woman, let alone anybody, to face.
And we now believe it was one of the people, many people who have come here over several months to support the farm's cause.
It's all quite shocking.
And here is David Eby actually speaking to the issue.
On the ostrich farm, alleged assault, obviously, this is incredibly alarming.
I just hope that everybody can help work to take the temperature down here.
And I hope this victim is okay, as okay as possible in the circumstances.
Nobody wants to see violent attacks like this.
And it doesn't serve any interest anywhere, regardless of where you are on the issue.
And so I send my best wishes to her and encourage everybody to maybe take a step back in a breath and focus on what really matters here.
We are going to bleat the name of some of the people who made guesses on who they thought perhaps went ahead and did this because those guesses were wrong.
And of course, it's not fair to list those people.
But here is some of that footage from that day that was chaotic.
And then we'll hear from Katie.
I've been away.
Good morning, Andrea.
Good morning.
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever.
So you can see here we have some vehicles here at the edge of the private property.
The sign says, who is your silent professionalism saving?
I'm assuming that is a message for the RCMP who are supposed to serve and protect.
I don't think killing healthy animals is part of that.
There's a fire here going.
Some of the supporters are out here standing behind the fire.
We've got another sign here.
Who?
Same message there.
Who is your silent professionalism saving?
All right, it looks like the RCMP have gone through a cable that was up with the caution as well.
They're walking on foot.
They don't have their vehicles.
They're walking with the son of Karen Esperson, co-owner of the farm.
I'm going to show you now.
There's a lady.
There's somebody screaming.
The neighbor was screaming right next to where we're standing back there.
They got this.
There's a man running out of her house with a jerry can.
What?
Out of her house.
Wearing all black.
So this guy's not, he's wearing a mask.
I need to see the fire.
Who is this?
He walks back towards her house.
Just five minutes ago.
Oh my gosh.
Did you guys leave the jerry can?
No, he went back to the jerry can and runs around the property.
We don't see any ass walks around that hole.
This is on Universal Ostrich Farm property?
This is the neighbor's farm.
And they were standing just behind the street.
So he came out with a jerry can near the property and then a woman came out, yelled at him, and he took the jerry can away, correct?
Yeah, she pushed him out or screaming at him.
He ran away through the jerry can then went back towards the house.
She's pushing him or yelling at him and then she start walks back towards his jerry can walk around the property with a mask on.
I don't know.
We haven't seen this guy before.
As you can see right now, of course, they're all taking a look towards the farm to see what is to come as they try to go through.
And you can see a lot of the supporters or I don't even know who are parked towards the animals.
And now the RCMP, because of this incident, have gotten quite the view.
They got to walk by.
The RCMP are investigating the neighbor's property now after the arrest.
they've got police dogs, canines on the case.
So I'm just making my way up there.
You can see a van has just moved in front.
There is also a tree on the ground.
Must have been a windy night.
Let's take a look.
All right, so you've got a tree down here as well.
Incident Update00:11:42
All right.
So you're going to branch here.
And then down there, I'll zoom in.
looks like there is also another.
All right, I made my way here to the second mysterious tree that has fallen on the road here.
This is Lucas.
Now, what's going through your mind as you can see them right there?
Stop.
Well, God has a plan, and it is not ending with the ostriches dying.
As you know, if you've been following the story, the submissions will be in hopefully today at the Supreme Court.
The court opens at nine, which is why they're trying to rush in here.
And once those documents go in, then it's back to another fight.
Yeah, we've seen miracle after miracle here.
I am not losing hope.
They are clearing this area, pulling it aside, extending an olive branch to the liaison officers.
All right.
Yeah. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. Probably.
First.
For sure, yeah.
We do not want that on our message.
We made sure, or we thought we made sure, that everything was peaceful here.
So if we can deal with this, that would be amazing for us and you guys, obviously.
So yeah, no, this isn't our message.
Can you grab that for me?
Can you grab that for me?
Everyone else here is peaceful.
So obviously we got the one bad in the bunch.
So hopefully we can deal with this and move forward.
Now is this about the guy with the Jerry can and the mask?
Yeah, we don't quite know all the details quite yet, but we have assumptions on who it is.
And like I said before, it's not our message at all.
We're not here for this.
We do not stand for this.
We do not condone this as a family.
This isn't what we wanted.
Have the RCMP given you any update about who's been shooting the birds?
No.
Do you think it's connected at all?
I mean, you can speculate, but I can't say for sure.
All right, Katie, you live right here.
Your neighbor lives right here.
There's a whole lot going on.
I was actually here the day the incident took place and I didn't know what was going on.
I was up there with the cops.
You guys had trees going on here, screaming back here.
Didn't know what was going on, because we were in the pens and I heard screaming, and I actually asked one of our supporters to go and find out what was happening, because it sounded like panic and it sounded like fear and I didn't know if it was.
I didn't know if it was the police yeah, I didn't know if it was somebody who was trying to help but got detained.
didn't know it's going to get you out of here We might have one of y'all.
So there was a man.
He was in black, he had a gasoline can.
Again, at the time, I didn't know where it was coming from.
We've since learned though, that there has been an arrest, and it appears to have been someone who frequented the supporter side of things.
So what can you tell us about that?
Well, number one, we are heartbroken about the incident, because it totally took away from any of the messaging that we've portrayed here for 10 months.
We don't condone violence.
We've been making that very clear, no aggression, no hatred, no violence, no threats.
Threats have even become a really big one.
When this happened, we were in the pens with the ostriches, and that day I will still stand to say that was probably will be the day that I will have to recover PTSD from, because we were standing in the pens and we didn't know what to expect.
We had a lot of enforcement coming more enforcement I've ever seen in my life to even any other drug bust or anything.
And here we are farmers, not criminals.
So we're standing in the pens and I'm watching not 10, not 20, not 30 police cars, but 40 plus police cars coming down a highway while the sun was just lighting up the morning sky and I was looking at our ostriches going.
We didn't know if that was going to be the last time.
We were touching them, feeding them or what that looked like.
And then we heard about the incident.
I didn't even know about what had happened until we were very this is a few hours later and we heard that it was somebody here that frequented supporting our cause.
That was evidently in that moment.
We were, everybody was didn't know how to react in that moment and I'm not justifying this, but it was a lot of emotion coming out in a lot of individuals that this person acted in a way that doesn't.
We do not condone and nobody should ever have to go through.
So our neighbor this person was out in broad daylight doing something.
It was filmed.
But our supporters it is really important to really frame this as our supporters were screaming at this individual to come to the street, come to the street and come to the RCMP.
We were having negotiations at the front and the negotiations were just talking about what to expect.
The family is their search warrants, what is going on?
We put everything on hold and we brought in the RCMP immediately to take care of the situation, to make sure that our neighbors welfare was taken care of utmost first most, and that's what our priority was.
Our mission has stayed the same since day one is that we're here to protect life.
I've been here multiple times and I was actually surprised when I saw who the individual was.
His name is Tim and he said it was me and and I was like really, was it really him?
Because he seemed so helpful.
And of course, it's horrific what Lois is saying is happening to her.
She's saying she was assaulted before she came out and did the statement which i've linked in the article below.
I did ask the RCMP for a follow-up on what had happened with the, the individual who allegedly assaulted her.
We have some drones over her head right now.
Now i'm not going to be able to get a statement from the neighbor, but this is Doug, he's got some context, because you've been here um, you know, really helping out.
What do you think is going on?
Well, we've been here for about nine, ten months battling this thing and i've and I was just here to you know, help the family, do whatever I can.
But we've got a team of locals that's probably 20, 25 of them deep, from 55 to 70, and it's in and they call themselves the hate group and it's.
Oh, they call themselves that.
Yeah and and, and they're, they're on a they're, they're online with it and everything.
You can see what's going on with these guys.
So we've had problems all the time.
We've had two ostriches killed right um, in the middle of the night i'm not saying it was them and so I started running security at night just to just to put the family at ease and everything, and there was all kinds of people I had to chase away and we've had problems with these constant, with these people.
Now there's supposedly a fire that happened next door here.
Well, he came out with a jerry can.
There was somebody running through the bush with a jerry can and the guy our guy that's been hauled away.
It doesn't even look like him and he took off through the bush going the other direction.
So I don't know what it is, and it's always there's always an issue and investigation first.
All right, a little bit more detail.
So a man named Tim who was here apparently supporting the farm yeah, one of our biggest supporters and honestly, he's been nothing but helpful for months.
Yeah, and um, I had a talk with him today and numerous times before that about how it's it's stronger that he is at the front of the line than behind bars.
Um, and I, i've had that with other people too, because that's the truth is, if we stand together and put up a front, then we're stronger together.
Um I, I don't necessarily believe it was Tim, but I think he's taking the route for it.
Yeah, so apparently Tim and I think I know who you're talking about he's been doing a lot of help just, you know, fixing things and Things like that.
He has allegedly, I wasn't there, said it was him, and that's who they arrested, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So he apparently, I don't quite know, said that it was him, but when he was detained, he said, I didn't do anything wrong.
So that really throws a red flag for me with Tim with me standing there too.
If he did something wrong, I really don't believe that he would say that.
And the canines have been sort of tracking a scent, kind of coming from towards the opposite side, which is interesting too, but I guess soon we'll know.
Yeah, and yeah, they couldn't figure out where it led to, but they were coming in the direction from our neighbor's property in a diagonal view, and they couldn't pick up the scent from there.
So I just, I don't see it as Tim doing that because he's been on a quad too, just helping everyone.
Yeah.
Well, it's hard to say.
I mean, you don't really have much control and it's been very peaceful every time I've come out.
So we'll see what comes from this.
Thanks.
Now I saw you, you know, offering, hey, there's police over here if you need help.
Tell us a little bit about what you saw.
There was a lady just screaming uncontrollably, but we didn't see anybody at first.
And then she came out of the house with, it looked like she came out of the house with somebody, with a gas can.
And then she started screaming again.
And then she started, the person was running around, but it looked as though they knew each other.
So it's kind of confusing of exactly what's going on.
I see there's cops there.
I've heard that I don't really know what's going on.
It really seemed staged to me.
Well, it really seemed as though this was almost like planned, you know?
Ostrich Crisis: Biology vs. Blind Culls00:08:00
Do you think it's working in favor or against the birds being saved?
We've seen last minute miracles.
And I do know I've been here before and it was not staged where a neighbor, and I don't know which neighbor, so I'm not pointing fingers, but a neighbor almost, you know, tried to intentionally scare protesters that were here by driving quite aggressively towards them.
So I don't know if that's connected.
We're not criminals, we're farmers, and we're standing up for all farmers across Canada to give you hope that this is a broken policy that is affecting all of us.
Educate you that when you let them on your property, you lose all property rights, you lose the rights to your animals, and you lose the rights to prove that your animals are healthy.
We're in a, this has gotten so big that none of us could have ever expected how big this was going to get.
Rebel, you guys have done a really amazing job at being here, boots on the ground, covering the most accurate information and also getting the most truthful portion of this and accurate representation of what we're fighting for.
We are not aggressive.
We are not.
We do not stand for violence and anybody here who has even incited or looked like they were too far one way, we've asked to leave.
So we would never jeopardize our cause in the fight if we knew that we had somebody here that was going to going to do that.
Meanwhile, the American Ostrich Association is pushing for testing and quarantine instead of panic.
They're calling for policy grounded in biology, not blind obedience.
But in Canada, it seems the government's motto is, when in doubt, kill everything.
There's a growing body of science that Canada's overreaching health bureaucrats refuse to acknowledge.
And it's coming from south of the border.
Veterinary experts in the United States, including the American Ostrich Association, have made it clear, ratites, so birds like ostriches, can contract the avian flu, but they don't spread it.
They don't migrate.
They don't fly.
And when infected, they recover with what the association calls minimal zoonotic risk in plain English.
They're not a danger to other birds, animals, or even humans.
I'm Sheila Gunread reporting from Universal Ostrich Farm, a small family-run operation here in the Kootenays of British Columbia, fighting a court-ordered depopulation of their farm after exposure to avian flu months ago.
To see and support our journalism from on the ground here, visit savetheostriches.com.
Now, what I just explained to you is not internet folklore.
That's from an official letter sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, urging Washington to finally modernize bird flu policy.
In that letter, the association points out that the ostriches' biology and immune response are much more like cattle than poultry, and that the old cull and indemnity model where governments line up trucks and kill everything with feathers and then compensate the farmers makes no sense for these long-lived animals.
The association reminded Secretary Kennedy that when dairy cattle in the U.S. tested positive for avian flu, the government didn't torch the herds.
It used testing and quarantine.
The Americans are asking for the same rational approach for ostriches, including these Canadian ones.
And here's what they warned.
The mandatory culls are an existential threat to small ostrich farms because when you wipe out birds that take decades to breed because they can live for 40 years, you're not just killing livestock, you're erasing genetics, livelihoods, and research.
Ostriches require a different approach than poultry flocks, which have sometimes an eight-week lifespan.
Now, I reached out directly to the American Ostrich Association for their view on what's happening right here in Edgewood, British Columbia.
I heard back from the president, Michael Lehman.
He told me their association confirmed they're aware of this case and that pressure has been building in the U.S. to raise it with Congress and the Department of Agriculture.
He reiterated the organization's position.
Ostriches and other ratites are highly resistant to viral transmission and deserve species-specific treatment, not extermination.
That science matters because what's unfolding behind me could decide the future of the ostrich industry and animal health policy on both sides of the border.
You see behind me are 400 healthy ostriches, alert, active, and apparently virus-free for 260 days.
They were exposed to avian flu months ago.
They survived.
They have never spread it.
But instead of learning from that, Ottawa Health Bureaucrats want these birds dead.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ordered their destruction.
They've built kill pens nearby, and they are awaiting the courts to clear the way.
The farm's owners are clinging to hope, waiting to see if the Supreme Court of Canada will agree to hear their appeal.
If that leave isn't granted, the government could move in.
And it's not just a farm.
These birds, of course, are research animals.
They're not for food.
They're used in cutting-edge studies on immune response and antibody production related to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
If they're killed, that research dies with them too.
Now, here's the irony that should make every so-called science-based policymaker in Ottawa blush.
Around the world, scientists are genetically modifying chickens to make them more like ostriches.
In the UK, researchers engineered chickens with synthetic decoy RNA that tricks the flu virus into binding to fake genetic material so the virus can't reproduce.
The result, those chickens might get infected, but they can't spread the virus.
They're literally building lab-made birds that can do what these ostriches already do naturally, contract avian flu and then stop it dead in its tracks.
And while scientists in London are tinkering in laboratories to make flu-resistant poultry, the CFIA here in Canada is marching into this farm to destroy 400 naturally flu-resistant ostriches, real-world proof of the same phenomenon.
Studies have shown that ostriches produce cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies, immune proteins capable of recognizing multiple flu strains, including pandemic H1N1.
Ostriches have been used in antiviral research precisely because their immune systems are that adaptable, generating broad-spectrum protection that even bioengineered chickens can't mimic.
So when the Americans say ostriches deserve their own response plan, they're right.
Nature already solved a problem that scientists are trying to fix in the lab.
The only thing that hasn't evolved is the bureaucracy.
If these birds are slaughtered, we won't just lose 400 animals.
We'll lose decades of data, unique genetics, and living evidence that mass calls are not the only answer to avian disease.
Meanwhile, the American Ostrich Association is pushing for testing and quarantine instead of panic.
They're calling for policy grounded in biology, not blind obedience.
But in Canada, it seems the government's motto is, when in doubt, kill everything.
Now you can follow this developing story and support our independent reporting right here in Edgewood at save theostriches.com because this isn't about disease control anymore.
It's about control, period.
For Rebel News, I'm Sheila Gunread.
If Ottawa can silence farmers, destroy science, and then call it public health, then it's not just the ostriches under threat.
It's every one of us who dares to question their authority.
Visit savetheostriches.com to learn more.
Well, that's our show for today.
Until next week, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, see you at home.