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Globe and Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
B.C. ostriches set for cull have avian flu infection not seen elsewhere in Canada, agency says
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency plans to move ahead with a plan to cull ostriches in British Columbia, citing the birds have a genetic composition of avian influenza associated with a human infection in Ohio. The CFIA said in a statement released late Friday evening its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease identified the current infection in the ostriches with a 'novel reassortment' not otherwise seen in Canada. 'This assortment includes the D1.3 genotype, which has been associated with a human infection in a poultry worker in Ohio,' the agency said. 'A human case of H5N1 in BC earlier this year required critical care, and an extended hospital stay for the patient, and there have been a number of human cases in the United States, including a fatality.' Ostriches that live at the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, a remote community in B.C., are now the subject of international attention, including from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services who takes issue with the CFIA's plans to kill the nearly 400 birds. The ostriches have also garnered other forms of support in the U.S., such as from billionaire John Catsimatidis and Dr. Oz, an American TV physician who now runs medicare in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Dr. Oz offered to provide sanctuary to the birds at his Florida ranch but the farm owners would like to keep the birds in Canada. Last December, an outbreak began at the farm that killed 69 ostriches. In January, the CFIA said the rest of the flock would be 'depopulated.' This spring, the farm has challenged the agency in court. Earlier this month, the Federal Court determined the CFIA acted reasonably in its cull decision. The farm's owners filed an appeal this week. B.C. owners of ostriches condemned because of avian flu outbreak seek new legal challenge The CFIA said Friday that after the court made its ruling on May 13, farm owners and supporters have made an 'apparent attempt to prevent the CFIA from carrying out its operations at the infected premises.' It also says this has delayed a timely and appropriate response to the premises infected with the avian influenza, resulting in 'ongoing risks to animals and humans.' 'Given that the flock has had multiple laboratory-confirmed cases of H5N1 and the ongoing serious risks for animal and human health, and trade, the CFIA continues planning for humane depopulation with veterinary oversight at the infected premises,' it said. The agency also said Universal Ostrich Farm has not co-operated with requirements set out under the federal Health of Animals Act. It claims that it failed to report initial cases of illness and deaths to the CFIA and it did not adhere to quarantine orders. The farm was issued two notices of violations with a penalty totaling $20,000, the agency said. The farm has not yet responded to the CFIA's statement. On Thursday, Katie Pasitney, a spokesperson for the farm who is the daughter of an owner, told The Globe and Mail about 50 supporters have gathered at the site daily who are rallying to save the animals. A convoy of supporters plan to travel to the farm site this weekend, she added. Supporters who made visits to the farm this week include 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. The teen was discharged from BC Children's Hospital in early January after fighting for her life. Her visit to the farm was the first time she made a public appearance since becoming ill.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
B.C. owners of ostriches hope high-powered names and bird-flu survivor will save flock from cull
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. B.C. owners of ostriches condemned because of avian flu outbreak seek new legal challenge 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. Dr. Oz offers to relocate B.C. ostriches facing cull 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.'
New York Times
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Canada Wants to Kill 400 Ostriches. RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz Want to Save Them.
What do the U.S. health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the celebrity physician Mehmet Oz and some Canadian animal lovers have in common? They all want to save a flock of 400 ostriches on a British Columbia farm. But there's a catch. The birds were in contact with a deadly virus: the avian flu. Canada ordered the birds to be culled after avian flu spread through Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, a town in the province's interior, north of Washington State. The plight of the wobble — a term sometimes used to describe a group of ostriches — has divided Canadians, but the birds have won allies across the border, namely top officials in the Trump administration. Mr. Kennedy last week urged the Canadian authorities not to kill the ostriches but to do further testing to try to better understand the virus. 'We believe significant scientific knowledge may be garnered from following the ostriches in a controlled environment,' Mr. Kennedy said in a letter to the head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which ordered the culling. Dr. Oz, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid for the Trump administration, offered to relocate the doomed birds to his 900-acre ranch in Florida. John Catsimatidis, a billionaire Republican businessman who owns a New York City radio station, made a plea to save the birds on his radio program, demanding 'truth, justice and the American way for the ostriches up in British Columbia.' An avian flu outbreak in the United States has killed millions of birds, spread to cattle farms and infected dozens of people since 2024, one of whom died. But a national campaign against bird flu has been undermined by the political upheaval in Washington, which has led to funding cuts and the dismissals of scientists to detect the virus's spread. Canada's outbreak has been most prevalent in British Columbia, where the avian flu has killed 8.7 million birds since 2022 — more than half of the national total. In December, a young ostrich at Universal Ostrich Farms fell ill with symptoms that looked like pneumonia. But testing revealed it was avian flu, and just over a month later, 69 of the 468 ostriches on the farm had died. Tests by officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed a few of the birds had died of avian flu, the H5N1 virus. The agency ordered the farm's owners, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, to eradicate the surviving birds, but they argued that the animals should be kept alive to test their antibodies in order to potentially develop treatments for the virus. The couple lost a legal battle in federal court to keep the birds alive. 'When they issue an order to euthanize all of our healthy ostriches,' it 'crossed the total moral line,' Katie Pasitney, Ms. Espersen's daughter, said in an interview. Shayan Sharif, a professor of immunology at the Ontario Veterinary College who specializes in avian flu, said, however, that the condemned ostriches were of limited scientific value because there had already been similar studies in other parts of the world. Still, he added, 'I know that those animals are near and dear to a lot of people, especially their owners.' Ms. Pasitney, 43, grew up on the 65-acre farm, which has been raising ostriches for 30 years, at first for meat and oil derived from the bird's liver. More recently, she said, the farm has switched its focus to research, partnering with scientists to study the birds and their immune systems. Despite the potential presence of the virus, protesters have descended on the farm, which is under quarantine, holding news conferences and filming visits by food safety inspectors dressed in white coveralls and masks. Canadian officials have said that they will not announce a date for the cull, which will be contracted out to a team that will use carbon dioxide gas to euthanize the ostriches, Ms. Pasitney said. The food inspection agency did not respond to requests for comment. People opposed to the cull are using walkie-talkies to surveil the road leading to the farm for any signs of 'a dumpster and a convoy of vehicles coming out here to kill our healthy animals,' Ms. Pasitney said. Ms. Pasitney said she was moved by the support of Trump officials, and by a special guest who visited the farm, a 13-year-old girl. The girl's mother identified her as the teenager who contracted the first human case of bird flu in Canada, which was detected in November 2024, and who wanted the birds to live. 'They're worth way more alive than they are dead because they have natural immunity,' Ms. Pasitney said of the remaining birds, but noted that a replacement flock of younger birds would be more susceptible to catch avian flu. She also said that exporting the flock was moot: The same agency demanding the bird cull would have to sign off on releasing the ostriches, and the family prefers to keep them on the farm. For his part, Dr. Oz told The New York Post that the ostrich farm presented an opportunity for researchers to study herd immunity of the birds by keeping them alive. 'The Canadians should stop putting their heads in the sand,' he said.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Dr. Oz, U.S. billionaire offer to take B.C. ostriches ordered killed
Dr. Oz, U.S. billionaire offer to take B.C. ostriches ordered killed News Duration 2:42 An embattled B.C. ostrich farm is getting support from south of the border. As Brady Strachan reports, a couple of high-profile officials within the U.S. administration have met with Canadian authorities and asked them to preserve the ostriches for scientific research.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Dr. Oz offers to relocate B.C. ostriches facing cull, but owners decline help
Supporters of Universal Ostrich Farms stand near ostriches at the farm's property in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Hundreds of supporters flocked to the farm over the Victoria Day long weekend to protest the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's order to cull 400 ostriches. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens The operators of an ostrich farm in southeastern British Columbia say United States health official and former television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz has offered to save the birds from an impending cull by relocating them to his ranch in Florida. But Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, said they aren't interested in moving the flock, although they're grateful for the support. Oz is the administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and is the second health official in the administration of President Donald Trump to try to prevent the cull, after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr intervened last week. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the cull last year after an avian flu outbreak at the farm, and a judge tossed out a challenge this month that sought to stop the order. Pasitney said she spoke with Oz on Monday, confirming a report in the New York Post quoting him as saying he offered to relocate the nearly 400 ostriches to his ranch. 'It's not like we're looking at transporting our ostriches anywhere, but I think what the message is (about) the growing support across the States,' she said. 'Even people like Dr. Oz want to be involved and (want to) see these animals live -- even offering his 900 acre ranch in Florida.' She said New York billionaire businessman and radio host John Catsimatidis had connected her with both Oz and Kennedy. 'He's well connected and he's very passionate about this cause,' Pasitney said. Kennedy wrote a public letter to CFIA president Paul MacKinnon last week, saying the birds should be spared as there was 'significant value' in studying their immune response to avian flu. But the agency said Monday in response to a question about Kennedy's letter that the 'humane depopulation' of the flock would proceed. It said dates and plans will not be shared publicly, citing privacy protections for producers. Catsimatidis issued his own press release on Tuesday calling on MacKinnon to stop the planned cull. 'We're calling for a temporary halt and an independent review. Let the U.S. FDA and veterinary scientists evaluate these birds—don't destroy them before humane alternatives are considered," he said in the release. 'Dr. Oz is standing by to assist. We're not asking for miracles, just common sense and compassion.' Protesters have also gathered at the farm in an attempt to prevent the cull and Universal Ostrich Farm filed an appeal seeking a 'stay of the execution and enforcement' of the culling order in Vancouver Monday. The appeal claims the Federal Court 'made multiple reversible errors' when it upheld the agency's decision to cull the ostrich herd earlier this month. The notice of appeal says the Federal Court's decision 'took an unduly narrow' view of the agency's mandate under the Health of Animals Act, wrongly concluded that expert reports weren't needed, didn't fully consider the consequences of the cull decision, and didn't properly determine if the agency's denial of further testing of the animals was reasonable. It also claims the farm's lawyers in the Federal Court judicial review proceedings provided 'ineffective assistance' that 'amounted to incompetence, and resulted in a miscarriage of justice.' It says 'prior counsel had a financial stake in the destruction of the appellant's ostriches, resulting in a blatant conflict of interest.' Lee Turner, one of the farm's former lawyers, said Monday he 'certainly did not' have a conflict of interest, and his co-counsel Michael Carter did a 'a remarkable job with the short window of time that he had.' This report by Brieanna Charlebois and Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published May 27, 2025.
