CFIA and RCMP created a wall of hay bales around the ostriches in Edgewood in 2025. The total includes $2.3 million spent on staff time, and $1.3 million on lawyers and legal fees. “The amount of money spent is absolutely outrageous,” said lawyer and Animal Justice executive director Camille Labchuk. “Millions of taxpayers’ dollars were poured down the drain, wasted to massacre these sensitive, intelligent animals who, by that point, were entirely healthy. That money could have helped support animal sanctuaries, improved welfare for animals, or funded real disease-prevention measures instead.