BC family farm fighting back after feds order cull of 400 healthy ostriches

A coalition of concerned citizens aren't burying their heads in the sand and are fighting to prevent the federal government from culling 400 healthy ostriches at a family farm in Edgewood, BC.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the birds killed by February 1 after two of their deceased herd-mates tested positive for H5N1, better known as avian flu.

The saga began in December, when an avian flu outbreak was declared at Universal Ostrich farm. Part-owner Karen Espersen said she believed the disease was brought to their property by a flock of migrating ducks, who took shelter in the barn.

Initially, the farm saw as many as four ostriches dying per day, but eventually the deaths petered out. Katie Pasitney, whose mother Karen is also a part-owner, said this was evidence that the birds had acquired herd immunity.

As it happens, over the past few years the farm has been focused on assisting scientists at Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan with antibody research. In 2021, for example, Esperson revealed that experiments with COVID-19 had shown that when inoculated with a dead COVID-19 virus, her ostriches had been able to produce antibodies in two weeks, and put them in their eggs two weeks after that.

KPU's Dr. Yasuhiro Tsukamoto has touted studies such as those involving the BC farm's birds could be integral in developing antibody solutions for various diseases and allergens.

Nonetheless, when the CFIA got wind of the outbreak in December, they sent a team out to investigate, and after testing two carcasses, determined that the entire herd had to be culled. This was incomprehensible to the owners and their families, who have developed strong relationships with each individual bird.

Attempts to convince the CFIA that the herd had developed immunity fell on deaf ears, as did reminders that they were talking about "a backyard flock of flightless birds living in an extremely remote area of BC under strict quarantine measures."

Since news of the cull order went public, hundreds have rallied around the farm, spreading the word in hopes of halting the feds' plans.

"This is truly an emergency, as they have been ordered to destroy all these birds at their own hand by February 1st, based on only two positive tests with nothing else included, except a link to mental health resources at the bottom of the order," Espersen's niece Alyson wrote on a GoFundMe that has since raised nearly $18,000.

"These animals are 250 lbs. each, decades old, the majority of which are healthy, happy, and dancing. The thought of ending their lives is completely horrific."

The farm's legal advocate, Kari Simpson, has worked tirelessly to get the feds to reverse the cull order. On Tuesday, just four days before the birds are set to be slaughtered, she sent a letter to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and CFIA President Paul MacKinnon, asking them to review the situation.

"The testing, or lack-there-of, carried-out on the 2 deceased birds is at best questionable," Simpson wrote. "Instead of conducting an autopsy, or at the very least taking organ/tissue samples — the 'gold standard' for testing — and having proper tests done before ordering 400 magnificent birds culled, your agents instead decided to only test 2 carcasses, using the highly controversial PCR test kit."

"As those responsible for the CFIA, and the lives of these birds, you should be deeply troubled by those acting under your direction who decided to only swab the throats and rectums of only two dead birds to justify this pending slaughter," she added. "This is beyond negligent, it is absurd. An immediate review of this situation is needed."

She went on to note that, "there is every reason to believe that is wasn't Avian, or if it was these birds have now acquired natural immunity," adding that if the latter was the case, the minister "should be the first to declare these birds, and the farm, as being novel and essential to the research dedicated to ensuring the eradication or mitigation of the effects of the Avian Flu on livestock in Canada."

Simpson told the Western Standard that the matter would be heard before the courts as early as Thursday, and that in the meantime, dozens of supporters were making their way up to the farm in trucks to hold a solidarity protest.