Over the past few months, Universal Ostrich Farms has gone from being a small family-run enterprise in the middle of nowhere British Columbia to a symbol of the fight against government overreach recognized around the world.The ostriches and their owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski have caught the attention of everyone from local advocates for freedom to high-ranking officials in the United States government.It all started in December 2024, when an avian flu outbreak was declared at the farm. Espersen said she believed the disease was brought to their property by a flock of migrating ducks, who took shelter in the barn. Whatever the cause, as many as four ostriches were dying per day. Eventually, however, the deaths petered out and the flock returned to its healthy state. Espersen's daughter, Katie Pasitney, argued that 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 Canadian Food Inspection Agency got wind of the outbreak, they sent a team out to investigate. Instead of testing live birds, they obtained positive samples from two carcasses and determined that the entire herd had to be culled.This was incomprehensible to the owners, who had developed strong relationships with each individual bird and treated them as if they were family.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."Over the following months, the farm and the feds battled it out in court, with cull orders being stayed, then allowed to proceed, then stayed, then allowed to proceed, and, most recently, stayed again..UPDATED: BC ostrich farm owners arrested, released on conditions as cull looms near.The farm is currently a veritable Ostrich Ridge, resembling a cross between Waco and the Freedom Convoy as the CFIA and RCMP face off against the owners and their supporters. There have been attempted arson attacks by suspicious outsiders, government hay bales set alight, and numerous arrests.Online, tens of thousands have waited with bated breath for Pasitney's latest Facebook announcements..UPDATED: BC ostrich farm granted interim stay by Supreme Court.While the Supreme Court recently granted the latter an interim stay, Esperson and Bilinski have been barred from caring for their flock. Instead, the CFIA has taken over until a final decision on the cull has been made.What happens next is anyone's guess...
