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CFIA Seizes Control of B.C. Ostrich Farm With RCMP Support After Warrant Executed

CFIA now controls the property under a court‑authorized operation supported by RCMP.

Overview

  • Police escorted Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials to Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., to execute search warrants as disposal trucks arrived on Monday.
  • CFIA told the owners to vacate by Tuesday or face removal or arrest, allowing them to remain in the bird enclosure overnight while asserting control of the site.
  • Video from supporters showed at least one person taken away in handcuffs, and RCMP said their role is to keep the peace while CFIA conducts its operation.
  • Roughly 400 ostriches are under a cull order following a December avian flu outbreak that killed 69 birds, and CFIA has not disclosed when any depopulation would occur.
  • The farm lost bids in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal and has until Oct. 3 to seek leave to the Supreme Court, as it presses for testing that CFIA says policy does not allow, citing risks from a unique, more lethal strain and potential asymptomatic shedding; international figures have offered to relocate or study the flock.