'This is what's wrong in Canada': BC ostrich farm fights to keep animals alive after cull order from government

It has been a week since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and RCMP stormed Universal Ostrich Farms, just outside of Vernon, British Columbia. Today, the stand-off continues, as the family farm fears for the lives of their livestock and the future of their livelihood.

The police and food inspectors – ironic since the ostriches are not sold for food but used in antibody research – came to enforce an order to kill 399 healthy animals because of an apparent outbreak of avian flu last November.

The farm is owned by Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski. Espersen’s daughter, Katie Pastiney, also works on the farm and has become an increasingly busy spokeswoman for the site. Her story of government overreach to the point of violating private property to steal and kill livestock while destroying their livelihood has been likened to a second Freedom Convoy story for Canadians. And Pasitney is appealing to the same conservatives and libertarians who supported Tamara Lich and Chris Barber in the trucker rebellion.

The story all began on Dec. 19, 2024, when the trio noticed some sick birds on the farm. Within a month, 69 of the ostriches were dead of what might have been avian influenza. The remainder of the birds developed herd immunity and survived.

But despite the birds being healthy for over 250 days, the CFIA is still adamant about killing every last bird on the farm and yet refuses to test them for the disease or allow the farmers to test for themselves. If they do, they are potentially subject to a $200,000 fine and six months in jail – for each bird tested.

Universal fought the cull order in court and thought their last hope had expired when the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the CFIA. But on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Canada allowed an interim stay of execution as it considered whether to hear the farm’s petition.

But despite that ruling, the CFIA maintains that it is within its rights to continue to occupy the farm. Pasitney has called it “highly suspicious” as to whether the RCMP really believes the birds might be a threat to public health. When they arrived at the farm, despite their agency’s insistence that the birds posed a health risk, the CFIA personnel reportedly wore no protective gear. They only donned HazMat suits after about two days of a stand-off at the farm, even though they were close to the animals. There are about 120 RCMP officers at the site as well. They remain in their regular uniforms despite being in close proximity to the ostriches. They are also staying at nearby hotels and dining at local restaurants – after being unprotected at the farm all day. Pasitney calls that “highly suspicious” if the RCMP really believes the birds might be a threat to public health.

Since their farm was taken over by CFIA inspectors and the RCMP, Katie Pastiney has been arrested, along with her mother, seen bales of hay on fire, watched as police drones frightened the ostriches, and endured harassment throughout the night from vehicles shining their lights into the farmhouse.

The Post Millennial asked Pastiney how she was feeling amid the response from officials. “I'm good. I think it's pure adrenaline, and knowing that we gotta make it to the finish line, we're 255 days of happy, healthy ostriches that we still have the most faith in for their resiliency. The international outpouring of support definitely feeds a lot of energy. And just knowing that we're doing what's right, we're standing on the right side of history,” Pastiney said.

She says she was “baited” into being arrested when CFIA inspectors told her it was okay to feed their birds.

“We were asking for the humane option, to feed our animals while they were preparing for their killing. So we just said, ‘Let us keep them calm. Let us keep them relaxed. Let's keep them in a routine, and we will not be in your way, but let us feed them, and that is the humane thing to do for these animals that have been under stress, drone stress.’”

When Katie Pastiney and her mother attempted to do just that, they were arrested.

“We filled up the buckets, we went to the back of the farm and got surrounded by cop cars and told that we were under arrest. So it was not a good feeling, that's for sure. We're not criminals, we're farmers, and we are just trying to do the right thing, looking out for the best interest of the animals that we've had under our care for 35 years.”

Pastiney said the CFIA agents were misleading about occupying the farm after the Supreme Court issued its interim stay of execution. “They've extended our quarantine zone to three properties. One of those properties is a private property of my aunt and uncle. They did not receive any notice.”

“The inspector for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency kept telling me, ‘No, no, no, no, just take these papers.’ I said, ‘No, the minute I take those papers, I know that we're going to lose the right to our own property.’ And he said, ‘Nope. I'll explain it once you take the papers.’”

“And he kept shoving them through the fence at me, and I took the papers, and he said, 'You now need to leave the property. We now have control over your property,'” Pasitney explained.

“This is what's wrong in Canada. Where are our rights? Right? This is our land, our animals. Where is our sovereignty? They are decapitating our industries, our truckers, our healthcare. Now we're coming after our agricultural sector, and this is going to have that ripple effect for generations if we don't stop it here, we'd like to keep saying we're ground zero for change,” Pasitney said.

“This is not just about our ostriches. We keep saying that this is about our cattle farmers, our dairy farmers, our rights, our freedoms, and to be able to make the decisions for the things that we have on our own land.”

Pasitney believes the CFIA is ultimately enforcing the globalist and big pharma policies of the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney. “The federal government is taking its health and agricultural policies from the World Health Organization.” She notes as well that herd immunity is not something that makes any profit for the pharmaceutical companies.

On Sunday, Pasitney said: “We need to push harder than ever. We are getting close to tomorrow. We need our submissions in and they are inhumanely handling our animals. They are moving animals into separate pens. There should be no movement of our animals …They have no right to be moving our animals and segregating them into separate pens. Removing them into what's going to create more havoc? And inhumane handling too.”

The stand-off continues.