Interim stay of cull order turns despair to joy on B.C. ostrich farm

EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — The mother and daughter at the centre of a movement to save their flock of 400 ostriches from a cull order had just finished a sombre and tearful prayer alongside supporters at their farm in British Columbia on Wednesday, when they heard the Supreme Court of Canada had granted a last-minute stay, sparing the birds for now.

The crowd erupted in loud cheers, with several people saying they felt God had heard their prayer.

“They’re safe today! They live today!” said Katie Pasitney, whose mother is a co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms near the tiny community of Edgewood in southeastern B.C.

“We have time,” she said, embracing her mother, Karen Espersen.

The development is the latest in a series of court battles and social media campaigns in an all-out effort to save the flock from being destroyed after avian flu killed about 70 birds on the farm starting last December.

The standard operating procedure for a farm infected with the bird flu is to cull the entire flock and then disinfect the barns.

Millions of poultry, most of them in commercial flocks, have been destroyed across Canada in the three years that a virulent strain of the flu has been sweeping through the industry.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement that it will comply with the court’s interim order, file a response to the court and maintain custody of the farm.

“The CFIA will provide appropriate feed and water with veterinary oversight while the birds are in the agency’s custody.”

The statement said there is no access allowed in the area where the CFIA has control.

Dozens of people have congregated on the farm, bringing RVs, vans and trailers to camp out in support of the farm’s owners and their unusual flock.

Supporters had gathered with the farm’s owners to pray, asking for “the miracle” that God would create for them just before hearing the news from the high court.

“Lord, lay your hands on these creatures. Lay your hands on this group, they are your children,” one of the supporters said in prayer.

The farm also counts U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. among its supporters, as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz, the former TV personality and current administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Kennedy sent a letter to the president of the CFIA earlier this year asking him to reconsider the cull, while Oz offered his Florida ranch to relocate the animals.

Moments after hearing the news of the interim stay, Pasitney embraced her mother, telling Espersen that “getting arrested was worth it.”

RCMP officers — called in by the CFIA to help keep the peace during the cull — had arrested both women on Tuesday after they refused to leave the ostriches’ enclosure.

They were allowed to return home but are prohibited from entering the birds’ pen, which remains under the control of the CFIA.

The inspection agency ordered the cull last December, when avian influenza was first detected in the flock. The outbreak went on to kill 69 birds.

Officials moved onto the farm on Monday, escorted by police.

Pasitney said the farm’s lawyer, Umar Sheikh, delivered the news of the interim stay, which spares the birds while the Supreme Court mulls an application for leave to appeal a lower court decision that allowed the cull to proceed.

The high court’s document, supplied by Sheikh, says the order stays the enforcement of the CFIA’s “stamping-out policy” until the application for leave to appeal is dismissed or, if leave to appeal is granted, until the case is disposed of.

“God is good,” Espersen and Pasitney said after Sheikh’s news.

In an interview, Sheikh said the CFIA will stay at the farm, maintaining custody of the ostriches until the rulings are made, and the agency has until Oct. 3 to reply to the application.

After those filings, he said the farm has two days to provide a final response before the court makes a decision “subject to the court’s timing and discretion.”

Espersen said she felt numb but overjoyed by the news.

“I just want to run in and hug my birds, but I can’t right now,” she told reporters.

“It’s the power of prayer,” she said, adding, “This was too close.”

Several CFIA workers in head-to-toe white protective suits could be seen shaking feed onto the ground inside the ostriches’ pen on Wednesday.

A wall of hay bales used to corral the flock had been constructed at the farm the day before in preparation for the cull, and by Wednesday morning, it had been charred by fire.

Parts of the roughly three-metre-high wall were still smouldering, and workers could be seen spraying the blackened areas with water as smoke billowed into the sky.

Ostriches were visible behind the burned wall, grazing and moving around, while several RCMP vehicles were stationed in front of the enclosure.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark was at the farm Wednesday and said the Mounties are investigating the cause of the fire, which is believed to be “suspicious.”

He said police became aware of the fire shortly before 4 a.m. and firefighters from Edgewood helped douse the flames and soak the rest of the bales.

“From my understanding, the damage is mostly cosmetic. There’s not a lot of structural damage there,” Clark said of the wall of bales.

He said Mounties remained at the site at the request of the CFIA.

The other co-owner of the farm, Dave Bilinski, said Wednesday that they would never start or condone a fire.

The interim stay was good news, he said.

“The birds are alive for a few more days. We’ve been here a few times before with the short stays. Now, we have to keep the pressure up in order to get the right rulings.”

Supporter Jeffery Gaudry said he came to meet the family in the early spring and has been travelling back and forth from his home in B.C.’s north Okanagan ever since.

“When they lost the initial court case, I had to fully commit to helping with this cause. Much like in Ottawa in 2022, you know, when we got to a point where the government enforced (vaccine) mandates, I felt like I had to take a step, an initiative, to essentially point out something wasn’t right.”

He said some people at the farm were participants in the “Freedom Convoy,” which brought thousands of people to Ottawa for a three-week demonstration against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2022.

That protest ended only after a large police operation.

Others are there because they care about animal welfare, Gaudry said.

“But there is a commonality of autonomy for the people and freedom for the farmers,” he said.

Gaudry said he felt “a lot of relief” following the news of the stay.

The farm’s lawyer has argued in court that the surviving birds are now healthy and scientifically valuable. Both the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal rejected the arguments, and the Appeal Court later refused to grant a stay of the cull order.

The CFIA has said in court documents that the ostriches were infected with a more lethal strain of the avian influenza virus, and a source of infection or reinfection can remain in the environment long after individual birds have recovered.

In a statement on Wednesday, RCMP said they wanted to emphasize that the CFIA is the lead agency in the dispute over the ostriches.

“We are an impartial party and are committed to ensuring public safety, police officer safety, and preservation of the rights of individuals to their freedoms of expression, association and mobility,” the statement said.

“The police will take action on a case-by-case basis, with a focus on enforcement should there be any criminal activities that pose a threat to the safety of individuals or property.”

RCMP said later in the day that there were reports of threats of violence against businesses suspected of being associated with the CFIA’s presence at the farm.

Police said one business in the Lower Mainland reported receiving threats of having its offices shot, and its employees were followed and shot at their homes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2025.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press