EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — An operation to kill hundreds of ostriches at a British Columbia farm is underway, with numerous gunshots heard on the property overnight.

The shots were coming from inside a hay bale enclosure where Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff had herded scores of the birds.

Police have limited access to the property and blinding floodlights and the wall of hay prevented people seeing what was happening inside the enclosure overnight.

But the CFIA says it's moving forward with "complete depopulation and disposal" of the flock, fulfilling an order it issued more than 10 months ago amid an avian flu outbreak.

The owners of the farm near Edgewood, B.C., fought the order, but on Thursday the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear their final appeal, lifting

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