Latest news with #UniversalOstrichFarms
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
RFK Jr. Begs Canada to Pardon 400 Ostriches So That We Can ‘Understand' Them
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a man whose brain was partially eaten by a worm and who once admitted to keeping jars full of roadkill in his freezer, is begging the Canadian government to spare the lives of 400 ostriches who may have been exposed to bird flu. Kennedy, who also happens to be in charge of America's federal health policy, believes those ostriches could help scientists 'better understand the virus.' The ostriches in question are at the heart of a legal battle in Ottawa, where federal judges are now deciding whether birds belonging to Universal Ostrich Farms, an animal reserve in British Columbia, should be destroyed or allowed to live. An outbreak at the farm in December resulted in the deaths of 69 birds, and, while hundreds of ostriches remain at the farm, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has mandated that those birds be culled to protect the region from a broader outbreak. The farm owners have maintained that this would be unnecessary and amounts to government overreach, The Globe and Mail reports. Kennedy, as well as a gaggle of MAGA influencers and other Trump officials, have repeatedly stepped in to ask that the lives of the sick birds be spared. 'The Secretary has urged Canada not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus,' a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which Kennedy runs, told Politico. Earlier this year, Kennedy also apparently told Canadian officials that 'significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment.' The whole let-bird-flu-run-wild thing has been a longstanding obsession with Kennedy. Earlier this year, the HHS czar suggested that U.S. farms with infected fowl 'should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that are immune to it.' Kennedy and other like-minded individuals believe that the birds that survive viruses like avian flu may have powerful antibodies that are worth studying, and that could be used to develop protections against future outbreaks. However, many science and health professionals have warned that by letting viruses spread, the government would merely be clearing the way for a broader pandemic and additional (and unnecessary) deaths. Thankfully, Kennedy doesn't have the power to determine bird policy in the U.S. As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, he is only responsible for human health, not bird health (the Department of Agriculture is in charge of that), nor is he capable of making any decisions for the government of Canada. Instead, he has continued to use his public platform to advocate for the controversial notion of allowing viruses to spread. Kennedy has a number of allies in his mission to save the birds. The U.S.'s administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz (also known by his TV personality, Dr. Oz) has offered to let the birds stay at his 900-acre ranch in Florida. 'We're sticking our necks out for the birds,' Oz told the New York Post in May. 'The Canadians should stop putting their heads in the sand,' he continued, offering another tortured bird metaphor. Kennedy's plea for an executioner's stay is sorta funny, given that the HHS director seems to have never met an animal he wasn't comfortable slaughtering—or whose corpse he wasn't interested in desecrating. In addition to Kennedy's admission that he once committed the chef d'oeuvre of public littering by dumping a bear cub corpse in Central Park, his daughter remembers fondly an incident in which he used a chainsaw to cut the head off of a beached whale. His cousin also claims he used to put baby chicks and mice into a blender to feed his hawks. He has denied eating a dog during a 2010 trip to Korea.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr wants Canada to pardon 400 ostriches
The Canadian government ordered 400 ostriches to be culled after they were exposed to bird flu, but U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save the flock. Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia was ordered to cull the flightless birds after avian flu was detected last December, CBC reported. A month later, 69 birds died. A court battle has ensued, with the farm owners arguing the ostriches should be kept alive to be studied for potential treatments. Although the court rejected the initial argument, the federal appeals court last month paused the order as it reviewed the matter; the court heard arguments in the case this week. Amid the legal challenges the birds have found an unlikely ally to the south: RFK Jr. 'The Secretary has urged Canada not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus,' a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Politico. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save 400 Canadian ostriches from being culled (REUTERS) The health secretary wrote a letter to the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in May, urging the agency not to go through with plans to eradicate the flock and instead test the birds' antibodies: 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment at the Universal Ostrich Farm.' The cull was ordered as part of a so-called 'stamping-out' policy, used to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to humans or animals, according to the agency. A screengrab from a video capturing two ostriches resting at the Universal Ostrich Farm, where the Canadian government has ordered for 400 birds to be culled due to avian flu exposure (Katie Pasitney / Facebook) 'Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to [bird flu] to remain alive means a potential source of the virus persists. It increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife,' the agency explained in a May release after the federal court dismissed the farm owners' applications for judicial review. This week, Kennedy — along with Trump's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and billionaire John Catsimatidis — sent letters to Prime Minister Mark Carney pressing his government to alter its policy, Politico reported. Hundreds of birds remain symptom-free months after 69 birds died after being exposed to bird flu, according to the farm owners' lawyer (Katie Pasitney) According to CBC, Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, thanked the trio for their efforts, saying on Tuesday: "I guess we'll just see where that goes from here because we do know that Dr. Oz and RFK are very passionate about this, just as well as John Catsimatidis." In court on Tuesday, Umar Sheikh, a lawyer for the farm owners, similarly argued that the government's policy was too strict, noting that hundreds of ostriches still exhibit no symptoms of avian flu. Only two birds tested positive for the virus before the cull was ordered, he said. "We would ask questions such as why 100 percent destruction needs to occur based on 0.5 percent confirmed infection?" Sheikh asked the court, according to CBC. Aileen Jones, a lawyer for the agency, argued that the court has already determined the 'stamping-out policy is a reasonable policy,' the outlet reported.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Hundreds of doomed ostriches find unlikely ally in RFK Jr
The Canadian government ordered the culling of 400 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia after they were exposed to bird flu. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has intervened, urging Canada not to cull the birds but to study them for scientific knowledge. A legal battle is underway, with a federal appeals court pausing the cull order to review arguments from the farm owners who want to keep the ostriches alive for research. RFK Jr., supported by Mehmet Oz and John Catsimatidis, has written to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to press for a change in the culling policy. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency maintains that its 'stamping-out' policy is necessary to prevent the spread and mutation of the avian flu virus, despite arguments from the farm owners that the policy is overly strict.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr wants Canada to pardon 400 ostriches
The Canadian government ordered 400 ostriches to be culled after they were exposed to bird flu, but U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save the flock. Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia was ordered to cull the flightless birds after avian flu was detected last December, CBC reported. A month later, 69 birds died. A court battle has ensued, with the farm owners arguing the ostriches should be kept alive to be studied for potential treatments. Although the court rejected the initial argument, the federal appeals court last month paused the order as it reviewed the matter; the court heard arguments in the case this week. Amid the legal challenges the birds have found an unlikely ally to the south: RFK Jr. 'The Secretary has urged Canada not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus,' a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Politico. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save 400 Canadian ostriches from being culled (REUTERS) The health secretary wrote a letter to the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in May, urging the agency not to go through with plans to eradicate the flock and instead test the birds' antibodies: 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment at the Universal Ostrich Farm.' The cull was ordered as part of a so-called 'stamping-out' policy, used to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to humans or animals, according to the agency. A screengrab from a video capturing two ostriches resting at the Universal Ostrich Farm, where the Canadian government has ordered for 400 birds to be culled due to avian flu exposure (Katie Pasitney / Facebook) 'Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to [bird flu] to remain alive means a potential source of the virus persists. It increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife,' the agency explained in a May release after the federal court dismissed the farm owners' applications for judicial review. This week, Kennedy — along with Trump's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and billionaire John Catsimatidis — sent letters to Prime Minister Mark Carney pressing his government to alter its policy, Politico reported. Hundreds of birds remain symptom-free months after 69 birds died after being exposed to bird flu, according to the farm owners' lawyer (Katie Pasitney) According to CBC, Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, thanked the trio for their efforts, saying on Tuesday: "I guess we'll just see where that goes from here because we do know that Dr. Oz and RFK are very passionate about this, just as well as John Catsimatidis." In court on Tuesday, Umar Sheikh, a lawyer for the farm owners, similarly argued that the government's policy was too strict, noting that hundreds of ostriches still exhibit no symptoms of avian flu. Only two birds tested positive for the virus before the cull was ordered, he said. "We would ask questions such as why 100 percent destruction needs to occur based on 0.5 percent confirmed infection?" Sheikh asked the court, according to CBC. Aileen Jones, a lawyer for the agency, argued that the court has already determined the 'stamping-out policy is a reasonable policy,' the outlet reported. Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
RFK Jr wants Canada to pardon 400 ostriches
The Canadian government ordered 400 ostriches to be culled after they were exposed to bird flu, but U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to save the flock. Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia was ordered to cull the flightless birds after avian flu was detected last December, CBC reported. A month later, 69 birds died. A court battle has ensued, with the farm owners arguing the ostriches should be kept alive to be studied for potential treatments. Although the court rejected the initial argument, the federal appeals court last month paused the order as it reviewed the matter; the court heard arguments in the case this week. Amid the legal challenges the birds have found an unlikely ally to the south: RFK Jr. 'The Secretary has urged Canada not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus,' a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told Politico. The health secretary wrote a letter to the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in May, urging the agency not to go through with plans to eradicate the flock and instead test the birds' antibodies: 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment at the Universal Ostrich Farm.' The cull was ordered as part of a so-called 'stamping-out' policy, used to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading to humans or animals, according to the agency. 'Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to [bird flu] to remain alive means a potential source of the virus persists. It increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife,' the agency explained in a May release after the federal court dismissed the farm owners' applications for judicial review. This week, Kennedy — along with Trump's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and billionaire John Catsimatidis — sent letters to Prime Minister Mark Carney pressing his government to alter its policy, Politico reported. According to CBC, Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, thanked the trio for their efforts, saying on Tuesday: "I guess we'll just see where that goes from here because we do know that Dr. Oz and RFK are very passionate about this, just as well as John Catsimatidis." In court on Tuesday, Umar Sheikh, a lawyer for the farm owners, similarly argued that the government's policy was too strict, noting that hundreds of ostriches still exhibit no symptoms of avian flu. Only two birds tested positive for the virus before the cull was ordered, he said. "We would ask questions such as why 100 percent destruction needs to occur based on 0.5 percent confirmed infection?" Sheikh asked the court, according to CBC. Aileen Jones, a lawyer for the agency, argued that the court has already determined the 'stamping-out policy is a reasonable policy,' the outlet reported.
