New York billionaire prepared to fund B.C. ostrich farm's legal battle against forced cull
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Red Apple Group founder, John Catsimatidis, told the Daily Mail earlier this month he is 'outraged' at what is happening and that he is prepared to fund Universal Ostrich Farm's ongoing legal battle.
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Last December, the CFIA ordered the farm's flock of 400 birds be culled. It also fined the farm's owners after 69 birds died on the farm from avian flu in December and January.
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The farm took its dispute with government officials to the Federal Court last spring. The court upheld the CFIA's cull order, deeming it necessary in the ongoing battle against avian flu.
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The farm then appealed to the Federal of Appeal, which in July reserved its decision until a later date. However, it issued a stay of the cull while it reviews the lower court's decision.
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The farm had also asked for an order permitting it to conduct diagnostic tests on the birds and to suspend any directives from the food inspection agency prohibiting such tests, but the FCA judge denied both requests without explanation.
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The nine-foot tall birds, which are native to Africa, became a passion project for Catsimatidis after he heard about Katie Pasitney, the daughter of the farm's owners and her campaign to save the animals.
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Catsimatidis recruited Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of U.S. Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Robert Kennedy Jr., U.S. health secretary, to help with his mission.
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The battle over the birds began in mid-December when 69 ostriches are believed to have died from the H5N1 virus, or bird flu. Pasitney insists someone made an anonymous call to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency claiming that the birds had avian flu.
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