Newly uncovered documents reveal the CFIA and industry were caught unprepared for the avian flu outbreak, which overwhelmed the agency’s resources and forced it to rely on third-party contractors who sometimes broke bio-security rules meant to keep the virus in check.

CFIA inspectors described running out of carbon dioxide gas and resorting to using captive bolt pistols to kill the birds. One farmer, whose birds included ornamental waterfowl, macaws and swans, described the aftermath:

“There was blood all over in all the pens, blood scattered on the walls, on the floor there were heads of animals and birds here and there. There were some live birds that they didn’t destroy that we found that we had to destroy.”

Shockingly, documents reveal the CFIA again tried using foam to suffocate birds — something it tested with disastrous results during the first outbreak in 2004. As in 2004, the experiment was deemed a “complete failure” with the foam failing to kill the birds, forcing CFIA staff to manually kill “almost the entire barn,” which the agency stated was “exhausting for staff” — never mind the suffering of the birds.