An 11th-hour court injunction preventing the culling of more than 400 ostriches has been granted to a farm in rural British Columbia, allowing the owners time to advocate for preserving their flock and the years of science and research dedicated to their birds.
Justice Michael Battista ordered the original order by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to be paused on Jan. 31 until it can be reviewed by the courts.
Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, about 200 kilometres east of Kelowna, contacted a veterinarian in December 2024 after a few of its younger birds became sick. Before it heard back, the farm was contacted by the CFIA after an anonymous tip suggested the birds may have H5N1, or avian flu.
After testing two young dead ostriches, the CFIA determined they had H5N1 and the entire herd would have to be culled, according to the agency’s protocol. Universal Ostrich would be responsible for a humane slaughter and disposal.
After an application for an exemption failed, the farm retained legal counsel, spokesperson Katie Pasitney told The Epoch Times. One day before the birds were slated to be culled, Justice Battista called for a judicial review, staving off the culling, at least for the interim.
“They were trying to stamp out our natural immunity, and I am so grateful that we got this little win because it gives just a little bit of restored faith that we have the opportunity to be heard,” Pasitney said.
“The judge ... heard that this is not a one-size-fits-all solution and we need to stop and rethink how we do this.”
Justice Battista said in his decision that proceeding with the cull order before the matter could be further examined “would expose the applicant to irreparable harm.”
The CFIA says that in order to minimize the risk of the virus spreading within Canadian flocks and to other animals, “timely depopulation of domestic birds on infected premises … including ostriches,” must be carried out.
Herd Immunity Argument
Michael Carter, the lawyer representing Universal Ostrich who secured the court injunction, says the Department of Justice is now reviewing its options and evidence before it makes its motion to continue.
“They’re still taking the position that there’s a health risk, and they want this heard soon so that they can still carry out the cull order,” Carter told The Epoch Times.
“When we get to the actual hearing of the application for the judicial review itself, we’ll be arguing the strict and unwavering application of a stamping-out policy wasn’t nuanced enough, and it needs to look at these cases with more of the specifics of the case at hand.”
He says experts suggest that the better approach is to keep the ostriches that have developed immunity to the virus, rather than replace them with a new flock.
“The expert reports that we’ve received have indicated that it would actually be safer to keep the ostriches that have survived and have developed natural immunity than it would be to kill those ostriches, and bring in new ostriches that are susceptible to avian influenza.”
Culling all the ostriches, including the healthy ones, defeats the strength herd immunity provides, he said, noting that even if the farm were to begin from scratch with new birds, none would be prepared for the next outbreak.
“The problem is that it doesn’t solve the actual problem. You still have wild birds that are going to be now infecting flocks of new birds that have no resistance to the virus,” he said.
“What you really want to do is you want to establish a population [with] the genetics of the birds that survive. Then they’re more likely to not get sick and die.”
Research at Risk
Universal Ostrich is owned by Pasitney’s mother, Karen Espersen, and her business partner, Dave Bilinski. Along with scientists and researchers in Canada, the United States, and Japan, they have formed Struthio Bioscience, where their ostriches have been used to study and create antibodies to combat viruses like H5N1 in both animals and humans.
However, if they are eventually forced to enact CFIA’s orders, Pasitney said the progress and research could go to the grave along with the birds, which can live up to 75 years and weigh 250 pounds (100 kilograms) each.
Prof. Pelech noted that the value of the ostriches goes beyond what the farm would be compensated for if they were slaughtered, saying the antibodies in their eggs are a windfall for research, diagnostics, and even therapeutics.
“These antibodies have value, and to put that into perspective, a teardrop amount of these antibodies in terms of volume—and we’re talking about 25 micrograms—is about $400 to purchase in the research market,” he said.
“One egg could be worth $50,000, so the animal as a source of antibodies, it’s an industrial level. And one ostrich can lay up to 100 eggs in a season, so now you begin to see the value of these birds if they’re being used for scientific research purposes.”
Pasitney said the goal is to build extraction facilities across Canada and even globally, and some of the progress Struthio Bioscience has made has included lining masks with an H5N1 barrier, among other projects.
“We should be able to prove ourselves here, and I don’t know what that looks like and how that goes forward because we were being threatened with jail time and a $200,000 fine,” she said. “So we are regrouping to see what that looks like, but [the ostriches] are still on the chopping block.”
Pasitney said the court’s stay of the slaughter offers a reprieve, but the fight is not over yet.
“It’s still emotional, but we have some time now, and we have faith,” she said.
The CFIA’s website statement says the scale of the worldwide avian influenza outbreak, which was first detected in Canada in December 2021, “continues to have significant impacts” on the country’s poultry industry.
It says it acknowledges that “this is a challenging situation for everyone involved, including animal owners, producers, animal health professionals, and communities across the country.”
