CFIA manual describes sitting on ostriches to inject lethal drug as cull ruling nears

OTTAWA – A Canadian Food Inspection Agency document on culling birds describes how ostriches should be killed, by methods that can include breaking their necks, lethal injection, gassing or shooting.

While the CFIA has repeatedly said it will not discuss its procedures in relation to a possible cull at an ostrich farm in British Columbia, an internal manual from 2016 describes various strategies.

These include lethal injection to the head in a method involving three people, “one to hold the bird by sitting on its back, one to hold the head, and one to inject the drug.”

Such “intercranial injection” is said to be “quick and minimally stressful to the bird, though may be emotional for owners to watch.”

The manual was part of an access-to-information response released in July 2023 and uploaded by the Investigative Journalism Foundation eight months ago.

However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not immediately respond to a request Wednesday to authenticate the document. 

The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to decide on Thursday whether to hear a final appeal by Universal Ostrich Farms against a cull of more than 300 birds ordered by the inspection agency last December over an avian flu outbreak at the property in Edgewood in southeastern B.C.

Protesters have been gathering at the farm for months in opposition to the planned cull. But their numbers have dwindled and on the eve of the court decision about a dozen trailers were parked in a field on the property as other vehicles trickled in and cold, slushy rain came down.

A fence and wall of large hay bales remain in place in another field just beyond the ostrich enclosure, put up after CFIA officials who arrived at the farm in September, escorted by RCMP officers.

The agency’s manual says lethal drugs can also be injected in the right jugular or wing vein of an ostrich, taking effect in two to 10 seconds.

It says sedation should be considered for ostriches before euthanasia since they can be “large, uncontrollable, or dangerous.”

“Sedative drugs are administered intramuscularly, either by syringe or by air rifle darting,” the manual suggests.

“Ostriches, especially males during mating season, are extremely dangerous,” it goes on.

“With the owner’s help, lure the ostrich with food into a position where it can be restrained. Place a hood over the bird’s head (e.g. the cut-off sleeve of an elastic material, such as a sweatshirt sleeve). Once the ostrich is hooded, it can easily be sedated and euthanized.”

The manual does not give specific instructions for killing ostriches by gassing, but says birds can be killed with carbon dioxide gas in a sealed chamber. It says the method is “slower and more stressful” for birds than other methods. 

The manual says gunshots should be considered “as a last resort” for euthanasia, while breaking a bird’s neck is also appropriate in some situations, and is listed among methods “when dealing with larger birds such as emus and ostriches.”

However, it notes: “Euthanizing large birds, using cervical dislocation, is physically demanding and must only be undertaken by personnel who have sufficient training and who are physically strong enough to complete the task swiftly.”

If the Supreme Court of Canada decides on Thursday not to hear the appeal by Universal Ostrich Farms, a stay on the cull would be lifted and there would be no legal impediment to the killing of the birds. 

If leave to appeal is granted, a final decision on the fate of the flock would come after a hearing.

The farm counts U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. among its backers, as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former TV personality and current administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Kennedy sent a letter to the president of the CFIA earlier this year asking him to reconsider the cull, while Oz offered his Florida ranch to relocate the animals.

The CFIA manual cannot be viewed among the federal government’s access-to-information releases without prior request, although details that match it can be seen on a government site.

The Investigative Journalism Foundation routinely requests records released under the access-to-information system, then uploads them to a database.

— With files from Brenna Owen in Edgewood, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.