Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is writing to the president of the Canadian Food Testing Agency asking BC Farm ostriches to be spared from the planned ull.
Kennedy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, wrote to Paul McKinnon in a letter Friday to social media, saying it had “significant value” in studying the immune response to ostrich avian flu.
The secretary said he spoke about McKinnon and ul on Thursday, but thanked the Canadian institution for saying he was open to discussing a collaboration on a long-term study of about 400 birds at Universal Ostritch Farm in Edgewood, British Columbia.
The letter was co-signed by the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, and said Kennedy also participated in a conversation with McKinnon.
“It is our hope that this collaboration will help us understand how to better protect human and animal populations and perhaps lead to the development of new vaccines and therapeutics,” Kennedy said in a social media post.
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“We at HHS are excited about this opportunity for intergovernmental cooperation in a promising scientific partnership.”
The letter states that the situation needs further evaluation.
“We are fully committed to the CFIA and Canadian farmers protect both public health and animal welfare and further researching this important and unique herd for scientific advancement,” reads.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Katie Pacitney, whose parents own the farm, thanked Kennedy on social media.
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“Thank you for trying to protect these animals with innovative science,” she said in a Facebook post.
“Together, we know that we can create the most magical change from this most challenging opportunity.”
Earlier on Friday, the RCMP said it was investigating the ostrich death on a farm where protesters gathered to prevent the bird's ull ordered by federal authorities.
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Pacitony posted a video on social media in the morning, saying that between 1am and 2am, a large drone flew through the facility, shooting one of the “biggest beautiful roosters” dead.
Pacitony said in a later post that the Mounties had collected statements from eyewitnesses and had “clear invasion wounds and exit wounds” through dead birds.
The RCMP has confirmed and is investigating the ostrich dead, but has not provided details about the situation.
Mounties previously said it was aware of “swelling tensions” and protests on the farm after federal court upheld an ull order by the Canadian food testing agency earlier this month.
The agency hopes the flock will be culled due to the outbreak of bird flu that killed dozens of birds in December and January.
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