B.C. owners of ostriches hope high-powered names and bird-flu survivor will save flock from cull

Globe and Mail

3 days ago

The owners of nearly 400 ostriches that are earmarked for death on a B.C. farm hope public appeals from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Oz and a 13-year-old Canadian survivor of bird flu will help to save their animals.
The group of tall birds, including a particularly beloved one named Q-Tip after his fuzzy white head, live at the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, a remote community in B.C. They have garnered international attention, including from Mr. Kennedy, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) plans to cull the animals to implement disease-control measures for avian influenza.
Last December, an outbreak began killing 69 ostriches on the B.C. farm. In late January, the CFIA said the rest of the flock was to be 'depopulated.'
The farm has been challenging the agency in court this spring. Earlier this month, the Federal Court determined the CFIA acted reasonably in its cull decision. The farm's owners filed an appeal this week.
While the legal battle continues, about 50 supporters gather to the farm each day, said Katie Pasitney, who grew up with the animals as the daughter of one of the owners and sees them as family. Some birds, she said, have been around for decades: Q-Tip, for example, is in his 20s.
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Among the supporters who arrived earlier this week was a 13-year-old teenager from Fraser Valley, B.C., and her parents. She was diagnosed with Canada's first domestically acquired case of avian flu in November, although it is still not known how she caught the virus. She was discharged from BC Children's Hospital in early January after weeks spent fighting for her life in critical care.
She made her first media appearance in video captured this week by reporters in B.C., where she was identified as Joselynn and issued an appeal to save the birds.
'Let them live; they don't deserve to die,' she whispered, her voice strained.
Ms. Pasitney said the teenager is receiving blood tests to screen for antibodies. The same testing should be afforded to the ostriches who are in good health, she added.
South of the border, Mr. Kennedy recently wrote a public letter to CFIA president Paul MacKinnon that said there would be 'significant value' in studying the immune response of the ostriches to avian flu.
Dr. Oz, an American TV physician who now runs medicare in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, offered to provide sanctuary to the birds at his Florida ranch.
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The Trump administration has faced criticism for its response to the influenza. Drug maker Moderna announced Wednesday that the government cancelled a contract for the development of an avian flu vaccine for humans.
In Canada, the CFIA has already killed more than 8.7 million birds in B.C. at hundreds of farms since April, 2022, because of avian flu. The measures, it says, are consistent with federal legislation and align with guidelines from the World Organisation for Animal Health.
The CFIA won't specify when and how the ostriches will be killed. It said it may provide up to $3,000 to compensate for each culled bird.
Universal Ostrich Farms has operated for more than three decades. The owners, Karen Espersen – Ms. Pasitney's mother – and Dave Bilinski, have raised hundreds of the birds.
They are now concerned when the cull will begin. Ms. Pasitney felt hopeful when federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald told reporters on Wednesday the ostriches would 'not necessarily' be killed.
Mr. MacDonald said he felt sorry for the farmers but cited an obligation to protect Canadian industries: 'We'll move forward on the best possible solution for everybody involved.'