A B.C. ostrich farm has lost its case to save its birds from a cull order issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in January.
But the farm’s owners say they will not be giving up, and have called on supporters to gather with them this weekend to “stand against destruction and shine a light of love.”
They also say they are reaching out to high-profile supporters in the United States for help, stating “everything is on the table.”
The case of the farm in Edgewood, B.C., a roughly 200-kilometre drive from Kelowna on a winding, rural road, has become an international flash point in the management of avian flu, which has devastated the poultry industry on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, attracting the attention of U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., former TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz, and U.S. billionaire John Catsimatidis, among others.
However, the decision itself is relatively straightforward, in keeping with a previous federal court ruling that found the CFIA acted lawfully in ordering the cull, and that its policy around “stamping out” avian flu through such mass culls is within its purview and based on scientific evidence.
The CFIA ordered the cull after two dead birds on the Universal Ostrich farm in Edgewood, B.C., tested positive for avian flu in December — a strain which the agency would later say had never been seen before, though it did not detail whether it was a source of greater concern than other strains.
The farm was home to about 450 ostriches, and the farm admitted that between Dec. 14, 2024 and Jan. 14, 2025, “69 young male and female breeders died, most of them under four years old.”
But the farm also said that after that initial outbreak, the remaining birds were healthy and exhibited no signs of illness and has tried to make the case that the surviving birds should be allowed to live, and potentially studied to see if the birds could provide insight into how to fight the disease.
They have also argued that ostriches should not be treated the same as other poultry, and tried to get an order for fresh testing of the surviving birds to determine whether avian flu is still circulating.
The CFIA, on the other hand, says its policy of “stamping out”, or killing, all birds on a property where avian flu is detected, is necessary in order to stop the potential spread of the disease, as well as to keep Canada compliant with international trade agreements that rely on similar policies being followed.
It also said there was limited evidence that studying the birds would have scientific value, in part because the conditions in which they lived lacked what is necessary for a scientific study.
The case first made its way to federal court in April, with the judge ultimately ruling that the CFIA had the authority to make decisions about how to manage the threat of avian flu, and it was not the place of the courts to second-guess those processes. Instead, the ruling stated, it had to make sure the CFIA had followed its own policies, which it had.
The farm then appealed that case, but the unanimous ruling released Thursday was much the same.
“The appellant [Universal Ostrich] is encouraging the Court to use the fresh evidence to re-decide the CFIA’s decisions based on what it claims is the situation today,” the ruling reads.
Fate of B.C. ostrich flock awaits court decision
“That is not our role. We are only tasked with reviewing the reasonableness of the CFIA’s decisions at the time they were made, which is the essence of the judicial review remedy.”
It then detailed the steps that had been taken by the CFIA to make the decision about the cull order, and took note of the fact that, contrary to the claims of Universal Ostrich, the agency had existing research and policies surrounding ostriches based on scientific evidence.
The ruling states the farm will also have to pay the “agreed-upon all-inclusive amount of $7,000” associated with the cost of the appeal.
The farm is also entitled to compensation for the loss of the birds, up to $3,000 per animal.
The CFIA said in a statement after the ruling Thursday that it does “not generally release details about the operations of individual farms to help protect the privacy of producers.”
“Accordingly, specific operational plans and dates will not be shared with the public in advance.”
Speaking to CBC News, Katie Pasitney, the farm’s spokesperson, called the news “devastating.”
She told CBC Radio West guest host Brady Strachan that “everything is on the table” when it comes to trying to save the birds, and that she had already reached out to supporters in the United States for help.
Dr. Oz, who is now the administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has offered to take the ostriches in at his ranch in the United States. The farm has also received support from Catsimatidis, the U.S. billionaire who has used his political clout to bring the case to the attention of leaders including Kennedy, Jr., as well as Ontario Premier Doug Ford who told reporters in July that “I wanna do anything I can to help them [the ostriches]…. anything John needs, I’m always there to support him.”
Meanwhile, Pasitney said, the farm is consulting with lawyers about next steps.
“At any moment, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency could come and kill our healthy ostriches,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that the farm plans to file for a stay order to prevent that from happening, while admitting the odds of success are “very low.”
“For 219 days, our flock has remained strong, vibrant, and healthy,” she said. “The CFIA has not set foot on our farm in over five months, but still claims there is a threat here.”
She said the farm would be opening its gates to any and all supporters over the weekend, writing, “If you feel called, come camp with us … Together, we can stand against destruction and shine a light of love.”
