B.C. ostriches won’t ‘necessarily’ be killed, says Canada’s agriculture minister [Video]

Canada’s minister of agriculture says a group of B.C. ostriches will “not necessarily” be killed, despite an order from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that they be culled due to concerns about the avian flu.

On Wednesday, reporters in Ottawa asked Heath MacDonald, the minister of agriculture and agri-food, about the fate of the ostriches, after high-ranking U.S. officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., publicly called for the herd to be spared.

“We’re in a process,” MacDonald said. “We’re taking all facts into consideration. And we’ll move forward on the best possible solution for everybody involved.”

Asked directly if the birds would be killed, he said, “The process is in place. And not necessarily.”

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