RCMP visits B.C. ostrich farm to prepare for potential arrests

Toronto Star

21-05-2025

RCMP liaison officers have visited a British Columbia ostrich farm to prepare for potential arrests at the property where protesters are trying to prevent a cull of about 400 birds ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Multiple livestreams broadcasting from the Universal Ostrich Farm, in Edgewood, B.C., show three officers in police liaison jackets and another in uniform at the farm.
They tell protesters and the farm's owners they want whatever happens at the farm to be lawful and peaceful, with one telling livestreamer Jim Kerr that if protesters want to be arrested, police 'don't want anyone to get hurt.'
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The officer says they want people's right to protest respected, but if arrests begin they want it to happen 'peacefully.'
Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, tells the officers in the meeting that lasts less than an hour that 'people are on edge,' as she asks police not to bring weapons onto the property.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay said last week that its landfill would not accept any ostrich carcasses without further testing for avian flu, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Saturday the cull will still proceed, and the timing will not be made public.
Pasitney's mother, Karen Espersen, is seen in one of the videos streamed Wednesday morning standing behind a fence with the ostriches and telling the officers that the group does not stand for aggression.
An unidentified officer is asked when the cull might happen but says he has 'no idea.'
The food inspection agency ordered the birds destroyed in December after an avian flu outbreak that killed dozens of ostriches, and a Federal Court judge recently upheld the decision.
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The agency said Saturday that under the Health of Animals Act, if an owner refuses to meet the depopulation requirements it could move forward itself or use a third-party contractor and potentially withhold part or all compensation from the owners.
The court decision says the farm could be compensated up to $3,000 per ostrich, potentially representing a payout of about $1.2 million if all are culled.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.