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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.

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A sign calling for the protection of ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farms is displayed 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 about 400 ostriches. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
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Karen Espersen, centre, the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, speaks with supporters with her daughter, Katie Pasitney, at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, as the Canadian Food Agency prepares to cull 400 of the farm’s ostriches this week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens

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.