The arrival of men in hazmat suits spelled the end for more than 300 ostriches in British Columbia, whose fate was the subject of a months-long legal battle in Canada that attracted an unlikely cast of supporters, including an American grocery billionaire, Canadian anti-Covid mandate activists and US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Dr Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor and member of Trump's administration, even offered to adopt the birds - but to no avail.
On Thursday evening, gunshots rang out from the hay bale enclosure where the birds were corralled. Katie Pasitney, whose family owns the farm, told the BBC on Friday morning that the she believes the ostriches were killed overnight.
"Shame on you Canada," said Pasitney earlier in a tearful video posted to her Facebook.
"The world is watching."
