B.C. ostrich farm ordered to cull 400 birds now waits for Federal Court of Appeal decision

A B.C. farm has taken its fight to block the culling of 400 ostriches over avian flu concerns to the Federal Court of Appeal. Judy Trinh has the latest.

A B.C. ostrich farm that lost dozens of birds following an avian flu outbreak last winter is now waiting to find out the fate of its herd after taking its case to the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa on Tuesday to stop a cull order.

Today’s hearing is the latest development in a months-long legal battle by Universal Ostrich Farm, located near Edgewood, B.C., to save its birds.

On Tuesday, the panel of judges said it will make its decision “as quick as possible,” but added it will take time to review all arguments.

“We’re going to continue to fight with all that we have,” Katie Pasitney, the daughter of the farm owners, said in an interview with CTV News before the hearing. “It is very real that if we are not guaranteed Supreme Court, if we don’t make it here, we will be applying for Supreme Court.”

After an avian flu outbreak was detected at the farm last December following two positive tests, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ordered the farm to cull its remaining herd of approximately 400 birds by Feb. 1, under its “stamping out” policy, which aims to minimize risk to human health.

Sixty-nine ostriches ultimately died in the outbreak.

The CFIA has argued that the farm has not complied with the Health of Animals Act by failing to report the initial cases of illness and deaths to the CFIA, failing to adhere to quarantine orders and failing to undertake risk mitigation measures.

The farm owners, meanwhile, argue the remainder of their herd is healthy and have fought for additional and independent testing.

According to a website dedicated to saving the ostriches, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, who have owned and worked on the farm for more than 30 years, stopped producing meat at the farm in 2020 and have shifted their focus to on antibody research.

“Science is meant to evolve. Policy is meant to evolve, and that’s all we’re asking, is that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency gives us an offer or an option to research these animals more and prove to the Canadians that they are healthy,” Pasitney said to CTV News.

Asked directly why the farm does not trust the expertise of the CFIA, Pasitney says, “We have experts as well and we have scientific experts, a large panel of them that have really great qualifications.”

Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, said while the ostrich farm case “sits squarely in that gray area,” culling is the “best control mechanism” to battle avian flu outbreaks, “particularly in poultry populations.”

“Certainly, in the instance of poultry outbreaks, this is almost a universally lethal infection anyway, so the birds are going to die,” Webby said in an interview with CTV News. “So pre-emptively culling stops the virus and the idea being that it doesn’t allow it to spread.”

Webby also says any independent laboratory tests “are likely to be the same” as any tests conducted by the CFIA.

“To me, it makes no sense to want independent tests done,” Webby said. “Essentially, it’s the same test. It’s going to be run at a government lab or an independent lab.”

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill following Tuesday’s hearing, Pasitney said she does not reject the CFIA’s assessment that there was avian flu on the farm.

“I would say that we don’t reject it,” Pasitney said. “I say that until we have actual other testing done, we’re not going to solely rely on that it is H5N1.”

Earlier this year, the farm applied for an exemption for animals with rare genetics because of the antibody research they conduct, but the CFIA denied that application on Jan. 10., saying they never received evidence or documentation being done at the farm’s premises.

The farm owners are pushing back against those claims and say they did present supporting documents of its research.

“That’s why we’re here fighting so hard because we have been very cooperative with the process. We’ve been asking the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, from day one, to work with us and not against us,” Pasitney said.

The farm then applied to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the CFIA’s order, but in May, the judge ruled in favour of the CFIA, saying the cull was reasonable and procedurally fair.

“Given that the flock has had multiple laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 and the ongoing serious risks for animal and human health and trade, the CFIA continues planning for humane depopulation with veterinary oversight at the infected premises,” the CFIA said in a May statement on its website.

The farm’s request for independent testing was also denied by the Federal Court of Appeal on June 20, leading to Tuesday’s expedited appeal.

In a statement to CTV News on Monday before the latest hearing, the CFIA said the agency looked “forward to a resolution that allows for the continued implementation of its regulatory response, which aims to protect public and animal health, and minimize impacts on the domestic poultry industry and the Canadian economy.”

Could ostriches be moved to Florida?

The case of the ostriches has garnered a lot of international attention, including members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration like Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Administrator for the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Dr. Mehmet Oz.

In May, Oz offered to save the herd by relocating them to his ranch in Florida, while Kennedy has written a letter to the CFIA to reconsider its cull order.

Pasitney told reporters that a new letter from Oz and Kennedy is forthcoming. She also said depending on the court’s decision, relocating the ostriches to Florida could be an option, despite previously declining the offer.

“If Canadian Food Inspection Agency and our own government is just not willing to listen, absolutely. It is about saving them, and it’s about saving what they can provide,” she said.

With files from The Canadian Press