Protesters gather at B.C. farm as ostriches set to be killed over bird flu fears

Andrew Kurjata · CBC News

· Posted: May 14, 2025 7:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says the cull of a flock of ostriches successful southwest B.C. volition determination guardant successful bid to combat the menace of avian flu, but it won't beryllium providing details of the cognition successful advance.

The announcement comes arsenic supporters of the workplace are gathering successful Edgewood, B.C., to effort to halt it.

The CFIA says it is moving up with the cull pursuing a tribunal ruling issued May 13 that recovered the bureau had followed the due procedures for making the determination to bid the procedure, and that it has a wide mandate to marque the decisions connected behalf of the Canadian government.

Though the justice successful the lawsuit said helium sympathized with the workplace for the economical and affectional toll the nonaccomplishment of its birds would have, helium besides wrote successful his determination that indispensable beryllium balanced against the greater nationalist bully associated with the CFIA's mandate of moving to halt the dispersed and mutation of the deadly vertebrate disease.

In a effect to the ruling, the CFIA confirmed successful a written connection that it volition determination up with the "humane depopulation and disposal of birds astatine the infected premises with veterinary oversight."

The connection said, "Operational plans and dates volition not beryllium shared with the nationalist successful advance."

Owner urges supporters to 'surround' farm

Meanwhile, supporters of Universal Ostrich person begun gathering astir the spot to amusement their solidarity with the owners successful the hopes of stopping the cull from moving forward.

Katie Pasitney, whose parent is co-owner of the farm, has called for a peaceful protestation and said they are looking for ineligible measures that tin beryllium taken to effort to halt the determination from being carried out.

In a video connection posted connected Facebook, Pasitney's mother, Karen Espersen, urged supporters to "come situation the farm" and "don't fto them bash this to these beauteous animals."

"We've taken years to beryllium capable to favored these guys, locomotion among these guys," she said, walking done the herd. "We emotion these guys. They're each blessed and healthy. If we don't basal for this … past what benignant of satellite person we become?"

The household says the animals that survived the outbreak person recovered and are blessed and healthy, having developed what Pasitney claims is "herd immunity" to the virus, which makes the birds much invaluable to researchers live than dead.

She has argued that the birds who stay should beryllium retested to spot if they inactive person the illness and, if not, should beryllium allowed to unrecorded and beryllium studied.

"Let's instrumentality their blood. Let's bash an analysis. Let's bash a power study," she said successful an interrogation with CBC News.

"As agelong arsenic we person migratory birds, we volition person avian influenza, truthful eradicating each of our livestock and hurting our farmers... is not the solution."

On Wednesday, she said astir 40 supporters had already arrived, with the anticipation of much to come.

Animal rights radical weighs in

The workplace is besides supporting a letter-writing run targeted astatine the Regional District of Central Kootenay, urging it not to judge dormant ostriches astatine section landfills.

Regional District of Central Kootenay spokesperson Dan Elliott says it received the landfill certificate to perchance grip the dormant ostriches successful January, adding the territory has not received immoderate accusation connected erstwhile a imaginable cull would happen.

"In effect to the request to negociate avian influenza disease, the Regional District of Central Kootenay has received an operational certificate from the provincial Ministry of Environment and Parks to grip the disposal of the avian influenza-infected discarded if the culling of the ostriches goes ahead," Elliott says.

Meanwhile, an carnal instrumentality radical has urged the national authorities to intermission the cull and see "whether sidesplitting the birds inactive makes consciousness considering however overmuch clip has passed since the archetypal bid was issued."

"Avian flu is simply a devastating illness that indispensable beryllium taken seriously, but these ostriches shouldn't beryllium forced to wage for the failures of a breached system," says Animal Justice manager of ineligible advocacy Kaitlyn Mitchell. "Avian flu outbreaks are exacerbated by rampant mill farming, yet it's the idiosyncratic birds who wage the eventual price."

Agency says cull needed to support Canadian poultry industry

The CFIA, though, says its argumentation of sidesplitting each animals successful home flocks wherever avian flu has been detected is indispensable successful bid to incorporate the disease, which has the imaginable to mutate and dispersed to different animals and adjacent humans, arsenic erstwhile a teen successful B.C. was hospitalized for respective weeks aft being infected.

"Allowing a home poultry flock known to beryllium exposed to HPAI to stay live allows a imaginable root of the microorganism to persist. It would summation the anticipation of reassortment oregon mutation, peculiarly with birds raised successful unfastened pasture wherever determination is ongoing vulnerability to wildlife. This could besides summation the quality wellness risk," the connection says.

"Our illness effect aims to support some nationalist and carnal health, arsenic good arsenic minimize impacts connected the $6.8 billion home poultry industry, and the Canadian economy."

In the tribunal ruling, it was noted that Universal Ostrich is entitled to up to $3,000 per carnal killed.