CFIA serves warrant on B.C. ostrich farm facing cull of 400 birds

EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has served a warrant on a British Columbia ostrich farm where nearly 400 birds have been ordered culled, requiring the farmers to leave or risk being removed from the property.

Katie Pasitney, the spokeswoman for Universal Ostrich Farms, posted a video on Facebook of a man in a CFIA uniform telling her they have the authority to come on the property and no one can obstruct them from carrying out their duties. 

The agency official says they expect to take “a couple days to set up” on the farm and that the owners could feed the birds but then must leave.

Pasitney is standing in a pen with the ostriches while the official relays the warrant on the other side of the fence, with the farm’s supporters heard yelling in the background.

The dispute between the owners and the federal agency dates back to the outbreak of avian flu on the farm in December that would go on to kill 69 ostriches and lead to a CFIA order that the remaining 400 birds be killed.

The fight to save the animals became the focus of multiple court battles, with the farm insisting the ostriches are now healthy and deserve to be saved for scientific research, while the CFIA says the birds were infected with a more lethal strain of the avian flu. 

Earlier this month, a Federal Court of Appeal judge ruled the cull must be allowed to proceed, denying a request from the farm for another stay while it applies to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The judge said the farm has not established that its final proposed appeal “raises a serious or arguable issue.”

At the time, Pasitney said the farm still intended to apply to Canada’s highest court. 

In the video on Monday, a sobbing Pasitney can be heard talking to the ostriches, saying, “these guys are here to kill you.”

Advocates at the farm had called on supporters to gather at the property this weekend ahead of the expected cull. 

RCMP and disposal trucks converged on the farm early Monday.

A statement from police says they have been requested to attend the Universal Ostrich Farms by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency “who was granted lawful authority to execute a search warrant.”

“Our primary role is to keep the peace and enforce the law while CFIA agents conduct their business,” the statement says.

Pasitney asks the farm’s followers in an earlier video on Facebook posted Monday to please “stop the massacre” from happening. 

“This is your day, RCMP, to serve and protect. You don’t serve and kill innocent animals that are unarmed, that don’t have a voice,” she says.

Pasitney, whose mother co-owns the farm, says they have been informed that there are “three search warrants” and that the family does not want violence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.