EXCLUSIVE: Ostrich farm owner warns of broader implications of federal agency ordering mass cull

The owners of an ostrich farm facing a federally mandated mass cull warn that the consequences of the government’s actions go far beyond the farm itself.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has ordered the farm’s 400 ostriches to be killed, after two ostriches tested positive for H5N1 in December. The remaining ostriches are not infected, and the CFIA has rejected the family’s pleas to allow them to bring in experts to test the birds.The RCMP on Wednesday descended on the BC farm, where they warned the 30–40 supporters camped out there that arrests could potentially be made if they get in the way when the cull begins.The CFIA has refused the family the courtesy of even knowing when they will come to kill the healthy ostriches — therefore, all they can do at this juncture is wait, having exhausted legal avenues.Katie Pasitney, daughter and spokeswoman for the owners of the Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, BC, told the Western Standard in a phone interview Thursday that the issue has brought to light a growing divide between large institutions and the public — with the former holding all the power..Pasitney warned the cull threatens scientific innovation, farmers’ rights, and food security, and signals a deeper political and spiritual battle unfolding in Canadian agriculture.The matter goes beyond her family’s birds heading for the slaughter and the devastating loss that entails — “it’s a spiritual war,” said Pasitney.“Our faith is being tested, and we just need to rise up above that, and we need to get some clarity. God is good, and there's divine intervention in the way He works.”Pasitney sees the cull as a symptom of a broader assault on agriculture, one that echoes the heavy-handed policies of the COVID-19 era, and said her farm has become a battleground against powerful interests she believes want to silence her family and other farmers.“We’re up against Big Pharma. We’re up against the large poultry associations. We’re up against people who get funded,” she said.She recalled how frontline workers during the pandemic faced ultimatums over vaccinations — many who refused the jab lost their jobs, referencing the Government of Canada’s initiative to vaccinate the whole population.“People very quickly, if it didn't affect them, forget how awful that was to have our frontline workers and everybody be threatened,” she said, adding that farmers could face similar mandates.“We're on track to having that happen with our farmers being told, ‘Okay, well, if you're going to have your animals, you need to be vaccinated.’ And then none of us know the repercussions of what those vaccinations hold. We don't know.”“We need to stand up for the natural solution of the antibodies that we've been so dedicated to and focused on trying to bring forward.”.She pointed to her farm’s work with ostrich antibodies, a field she believes holds promise for combating diseases like COVID-19, MRSA, and even Ebola. Her family, she revealed, tested positive for H5N1 antibodies after exposure to their flock, yet none fell ill.“No one’s been hospitalized here, and no one’s sick,” she said, challenging the narrative of a deadly threat.She emphasized the importance of natural immunity, advocating for antibody research her farm is pioneering alongside a Japanese scientist, Dr. Yasuhiro Tsukamoto.“We're repeating a cycle, we're repeating the COVID-19 times,” she added, referring to scientists’ widespread, long-held denial that there was such a thing as natural immunity for the COVID-19 virus.The CFIA’s approach, Pasitney argued, is rooted in fear-mongering rather than facts.“They want to use one case to fear-monger people,” she said, noting that millions of animals could be culled over a single case, a move she believes could devastate Canada’s food security.“This battle has gotten very, very political, and the CFIA, from day one — we begged them to work with us.""‘Work with us — we have a solution,’ we told them. If you're already using the word, threatening ‘pandemic,’ why would you not look at the possible resolution?”“We're not going to allow that fear-mongering to take hold.”“I think it's really important to keep dispelling the myths of the avian influenza-free status that Canada and the world chase," she continued. "Because as long as there are migratory birds in the world, we’ll never be avian influenza-free.”“If we lose all of our genetic diversity amongst all of our herds and our flocks, we will become fully reliant on vaccinations for survival, and that's what Big Pharma wants. We will be popping every kind of pill you can imagine to survive. We will become so reliant on that, our farmers will be gone. We're going to be solely reliant on vaccinations and pills.”.If farmers grow tired of starting from scratch each time their flocks get culled, that’s when problems can seriously arise, explained Pasitney.“Then we're going to be fully reliant on government meat — they're going to make processed meat, and then it'll be a question of who gets it.”“Maybe the elite get the best cuts. And then if you don't get your vaccinations, then you don't get your quota for what your family needs that year.”“The ostrich just became the perfect catalyst and the Trojan horse of a war, because they're such a unique animal. They're making everybody talk.”“So all we're asking for is the ability to use our own independent people to test our animals, to prove to the public, to bring our expert witness reports from the scientists and everybody that has been supporting us — top immunologists, virologists, and epidemiologists that have major reports on this. We're asking for the opportunity for that to come forward.”“(The CFIA) fought us in court to get our expert witness reports struck from the record. Why would you strike our reports from the record if it could help? If they were really concerned for the true, the honest, the public health and safety, they would be taking — in my eyes — all that on, and they would be saying, ‘Absolutely, please, let's look at all the reports. Let's see what we have, what we can use here. Let's get your scientists to talk to our scientists, and let's save the world.’ But no, they're just fighting us.”“There’s something sinister underneath.”“And the public is screaming. Canada, the world is screaming for the right thing to happen here.”