Nova Scotia Farmer Alleges CFIA Showed Up At His Homestead and Killed chickens despite inconclusive tests

Gary Slauenwhite of Fluff and Stuff Hobby Farm is now coming out publicly to describe a terrifying day in January 2024 on his Nova Scotia farm when Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials arrived and began killing his flock of birds, without providing any test results for disease.

“You all wonder why I’m so dead set against the CFIA,” Mr. Slauenwhite wrote on social media before describing the day the CFIA showed up at his door and stormed his chicken coop.

Three years ago, he sought advice from a local feed supplier about a few sick chickens. He claims the supplier immediately contacted CFIA before he even left the store and reported that he might have bird flu.

“When I got home, they was waiting at the gate,” he says. “Served me with papers threatening two hundred thousand dollars in fines and two years in jail for testing my own birds or their poo [for bird flu].”

Mr. Slauenwhite says that CFIA officials then entered his property and began killing his outside birds. “You could hear them doing it from the house,” he recalls. After finishing the outside flock, the agency turned its attention to his home and the twenty-eight parrots inside.

“I refused them entry and said I would defend it with my life,” he says. “At that point they said, ‘Mr. Slauenwhite, if you let us do this, you can start over in weeks. But if you do not allow us, we will lock your whole farm down to anyone entering or you moving your meat pigs for six months.’” He says that because he didn’t allow his parrots to be killed, the CFIA told him to leave his chicken coop under tarps for months. He also says he was told that nothing was allowed to come onto or leave the farm, except for his one truck, which was permitted to get feed. Instead of leaving his coop under tarps as the CFIA instructed, he decided to burn it down instead.

Mr. Slauenwhite notes that the agency made these demands without showing him any confirmation of disease.

Months later, when the CFIA workers returned, he asked a simple question. “If bird flu was here on my farm, why are my parrots still alive after loving them every day?” He says the officials hung their heads and offered no answer, only handing him his results before leaving. “When I opened all the documents, all four birds they tested came back inconclusive.” Mr. Slauenwhite states that the paperwork from the CFIA showed a positive and negative symbol in the results section for each test.

Mr. Slauenwhite says the experience left him deeply angry and disillusioned. “That would explain why I got no documents till they was finished and why they give me a four thousand dollar check within two weeks of being here. So excuse me if I have no love for the CFIA.”

He also recalls the presence of law enforcement during the event. “Yes, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia came with them to protect the murderers on my farm,” he wrote.

Mr. Slauenwhite’s account paints a picture of fear, frustration, and helplessness in the face of a federal agency that acted before any evidence was confirmed. His story has resonated with farmers across Canada who worry about their own flocks and the way disease control powers are exercised on private property.

The ordeal has left a lasting impact on him. He now says he’s “paranoid” and afraid to leave his farm and states that he is “terrified to death to go on another farm”. He adds that the CFIA showed no compassion during the entire process.

Adding to his frustration, Mr. Slauenwhite notes that when he searches the CFIA database for past infections, his farm does not appear. He says he is perplexed by this omission, raising questions about why his farm isn’t listed and what that means.