On ostrich genocide, logical fallacies, media literacy

Odd case of rancher's fight against CFIA cull order of ostriches brought out lawyers, but also convoy fringe folks

• First they came for the chickens, and I did not speak out –
Because I am not a chicken.
• Then they came for the geese, and I did not speak out –
Because goose poop is gross so, ya, get rid of the geese.
• Then they came for the ostriches, and I continued to put my head in the sand –
Because metaphors that refer to themselves are amazing.

OK, this is a serious topic that I'm making fun of a little with that, but sometimes lately, real events and responses to reality from actual human beings feel like parody.

If you pay attention to mainstream media, you might have heard a news story about avian flu (H5N1) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) order to have hundreds of ostriches culled at a farm in the Kootenays.

If you pay attention to the far-right conspiracy theory media, you might have heard about the imminent genocide of exotic ostriches with natural immunity, fake PCR tests, Moderna's $590 million grant to develop mRNA vaccines for bird flu, and how if they can do this, next you know the government is coming for Fido.

Two different takes. This story is an example of how any event or circumstance or issue addressed by journalists can be approached from a great many angles, some with inherent biases, and varying levels of reliability.

The first I heard of this story was this morning in a news brief on CBC. They mentioned the CFIA and the ostriches, but also that the anti-vaxxer trucker clowns have plans for a convoy this Saturday, which sparked my loonytoon radar.

The quick version of the facts is that on Dec. 30, 2024, the CFIA ordered 400 ostriches to be culled at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C. Karen Espersen and business partner Dave Bilinski own the remote Inonoaklin Valley ranch. They noticed signs of illness in birds on Christmas morning and called the veterinarian. In all, 69 ostriches died from H5N1 between Dec. 26, 2024, and Jan. 19, 2025.

But the sick ones recovered, and Espersen believes the rest have acquired herd immunity.

The response from some of the fringiest folks in Alberta and B.C. was immediate and predictably bananas.

Extremist rhetoric and logical fallacies

“Who runs CFIA?” said someone named Wayne Peters in a video chat shared on a Facebook group run by right wing activists “BC Rising.” He did a Google search and found the CFIA is in federal Minister of health Mark Holland’s portfolio.

“Any question as to who and why this is happening,” Peters suggests, setting us up for two logical fallacies in one statement, the genetic and ad hominem fallacies. “I think that’s a significant set of dots to connect.”

He goes on to describe Minister Holland as the “single most greatest mass murderer in Canadian, and perhaps world, history.”

Batshit crazy.

Then there is the involvement of Kari Simpson in this case (and on that same chat with Peters). Simpson is the homophobic mouthpiece of Culture Guard who has campaigned against LGBTQ anti-bullying materials in schools for years.

I then chuckled when I found out the farmer's name was “Karen,” a post-modern slur against self-entitled middle-aged women who complain about everything. Then I saw Rebel News and Drea Humphrey's coverage. She shared a petition, and all of the above individuals, like Peters, were using logical fallacies in their comments online. For example, Humphrey's Tweet goes all slippery slope claiming that if the ostriches can be culled by the CFIA, what's next? Pigs? Cows? Your family pet?

“Oh, Drea Humphrey and Kari Simpson are involved, phthth,” I thought, “It must be the lunatic anti-science fringe inventing a problem that doesn't exist.”

I assumed they were using yet another logical fallacy, the anecdotal fallacy, using this one rancher as an example of a conspiracy. Then there is the trucker-convoy style event planned for Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, the date the birds are suppose to be culled, to show up at the ranch in support. We've all seen how out of touch with reality the trucker convoy participants were and are.

But then I caught myself. That's me using the genetic fallacy to discount what Humphrey is reporting in this case because she is a bad journalist with a far right-wing agenda, and to discount Simpson's claims in this case because of her persistent homophobia, and to discount this convoy's intentions in this case based on the nonsense they took part of in the pandemic.

It's always more complicated

So while the medium is often the misinformation message when it comes to these voices, the actual story about the ostrich farm's owners and the required culling by CFIA is much more nuanced.

I know a turkey farmer in Yarrow who has at least twice in recent years had to cull his entire herd because of the persistent outbreaks of avian influenza. This has taken a toll on the family personally and financially, and this is just one case among hundreds around the world.

From the Globe and Mail article Jan. 30: “So far, foxes, sea lions, penguins, cats and cows rank among dozens of animals that have died in mass numbers from H5N1, which has spread to every continent except Australia, and both poles. Science last month published a study showing that a 'single mutation' of the virus could produce a strain capable of infecting humans and kickstarting another pandemic.”

This is a serious illness for birds and coming out of a global pandemic, the risks of mutations that then infect humans is real. Some people have already contracted H5N1 and it's not good.

But with all due respect to poultry farmers who had to gas all their birds and break their necks, there is an instinctive caste system humans tend to apply to the animal kingdom. Even most of the most voracious meat eaters wouldn't accept killing and eating monkeys or tigers or chihuahuas. Sure, an ostrich is a bird and a chicken is a bird, but we can't pretend the comparisons are simple. Chickens bred for meat are killed at about six weeks old. Ostriches in the wild can live to be 40 years old. In captivity their life expectancy can be similar to humans.

“Poultry farmers can restock in three months,” Espersen told the Globe. “Our birds will live 75 years. They know us. We understand them. We’re part of the pecking order. It took us years to get there.

“I can’t imagine looking a healthy animal in the eye, then killing it. I just can’t.”

The ranch once sold eggs and meat and, ironically, made a pandemic pivot. Espersen and Bilinski launched a bioscience start-up with scientists in Japan and the U.S. who study avian influenza.

“They provide egg yolks to Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, the president of Kyoto Prefectural University and a professor of veterinary medicine, which he uses to study the ostrich’s ability to fight avian flu, among other diseases,” according to the Globe article.

On Friday morning an emergency hearing was held via Zoom in BC Supreme Court, which I dialed in to. Lawyers for the CFIA and the farm presented arguments regarding “irreparable harm,” and other matters.

While Esperson contends that no ostrich has died on her ranch since Jan. 18, and those that remain have antibodies and are healthy, CFIA says that's not the point.

“It's not about if they are healthy,” said Paul Sanders, counsel for the CFIA. “It is about the potential for incubation and mutation of the virus through healthy birds.”

Dr. Scott Weese, a veterinary infectious disease professor at the University of Guelph agrees with this point in the Globe article: “It’s what this virus could become. Influenzas are promiscuous pathogens. The more they circulate, the more they mutate, and the more likely a pandemic becomes.”

But counsel for the ranch said the health of the birds is relevant as ostriches are very different from chickens. He also pointed to the relative remoteness of the ranch, and the scientific potential to study the birds.

“The ability of the ostrich to withstand and survive the virus and develop antibodies should have been part of this order when it was made,” Michael Carter argued.

The BC Supreme Court judge hearing the case concluded before noon and on Jan. 31 and said he would have a decision later in the day.

The Globe and Mail article:

As Canada rushes to curb bird flu, B.C. farmers decry cull order for 400 ostriches

The fear of another pandemic has resulted in the culling of millions of chickens, ducks, turkeys, and now ostriches. But some experts believe they are not enough of a risk to cause such hardship to farmers

The Globe and MailNancy Macdonald

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Paul J. Henderson
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