Grocery billionaire John Catsimitidis sticks his neck out for endangered ostriches

It’s Cats’ bird beef!

John Catsimatidis is sticking his neck out for ostriches. The Gristedes billionaire is railing against what he calls a “scientific and ethical disgrace” as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency moves to slaughter nearly 400 of the leggy birds at the Universal Ostrich Farm in British Columbia.

Cats refuses to stick his head in the sand! He thinks the big birds, which are being culled due to a bird flu outbreak, should be used for valuable research.

The 77 WABC owner’s camp said there’s “credible evidence that these ostriches may hold life-saving antibodies,” adding that “researchers from Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan have found extraordinary potential in ostrich eggs to combat major diseases, including avian flu.”

“Test them before you kill them!,” squawked the supermarket magnate. “These birds could hold the key to medical breakthroughs. Instead of investigating, the government is exterminating — and we have to ask why. Who benefits from that silence?” What the flock?!

“There’s no justification for this destruction,” Catsimatidis said. Cats says the public is in a flap about matters, claiming his radio station has received “thousands” of calls, texts and emails. “The science is there. The public is ready. The only thing standing in the way is bureaucracy — and maybe a few pharmaceutical companies afraid of a natural cure.”