Convoy and court case planned as B.C. ostrich farm fights order to kill birds due to avian flu infection

A flock of B.C. ostriches ordered killed after avian flu was detected on their farm have been granted a stay of execution by a Federal Court judge.

In a ruling shared Friday afternoon, Justice Michael Battista said that the Feb. 1 deadline for the birds to be killed should be suspended until after a hearing on the original order from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) can be reviewed by the courts.

Battista wrote he was satisfied by the arguments made that the farm would suffer “irreparable harm” should the cull go ahead on Saturday and that it had raised reasonable questions about whether a cull is necessary in the first place, which will be the subject of a future court ruling.

“We’re going to bring change,” said Katie Pasitney, before tearing up and exchanging hugs with supporters gathered in the kitchen of the house on the farm, which is co-owned by her mother.

It’s the latest development in a saga of the farm in the B.C. Interior whose owners have turned to the courts and the court of public opinion to save what it says are roughly 400 birds in their care. 

Universal Ostrich is located on a rural road near Edgewood, in B.C.’s West Kootenay region. Getting there is an approximately 175 kilometre drive from Kelowna along a winding highway, or about 360 kilometres northeast of Vancouver as the crow flies.

And for the past several weeks, it has been the site of a growing set of supporters who view the order to kill the birds, who can live for 30 or even 40 years, as an example of government overreach that fails to account for the specifics of the situation being faced by the farm’s owners, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, who have raised some of the birds facing death for decades.

“We just want transparency,” said Pasitney, who has been acting as a spokesperson for her mother’s farm.

WATCH | Pasitney tours her mother’s farm, naming individual ostriches: 

Katie Pasitney of Universal Ostrich introduces some of her Facebook followers to the ostriches who have been ordered killed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency after avian flu was detected at the farm.

Pasitney said that while some ostriches on the farm have indeed died of avian flu — 69 in total — they are just a small percentage of the overall flock. And, she said, all of those who have died were younger, while the remaining older ostriches are in good health.

“We’re at herd immunity,” she argued, saying there have been no new deaths since Jan. 14, and telling CBC News that of the birds who are still alive, none are exhibiting symptoms of the illness. (Researchers contacted by CBC News say there is limited information on whether ostriches can develop immunity to avian flu.)

The risks of spread are also minimized, Espersen said, because Universal Ostrich does not sell its birds for meat.

Instead, the farm has in recent years pivoted to raising the ostriches to research their ability to fight diseases, saying they have a partnership with Japan’s Kyoto Prefectural University, which has previously made headlines for its work with ostrich eggs and detecting COVID-19.

CBC News has reached out to the university, but has not heard back. 

So far, the assurances from Universal Ostrich have not been able to reverse a decision from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). 

The agency issued a cull order on Dec. 31 after detecting avian flu at the farm earlier that month, and gave the owners a deadline of Feb. 1 — this Saturday — to have the ostriches eliminated.

Widespread disease

Though that initial deadline is no longer in place, the herd may still have to be killed, depending on the outcome of the upcoming court case. If that happens, the herd will join the close to nine million domestic birds in B.C. and more than 14 million Canada-wide that have either been culled or died on their own after being infected with the current H5N1 strain of avian flu — which the CFIA is referring to as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), first detected in the province in 2022.

The death count includes poultry on more than 200 current and previously infected premises in B.C., mostly farms and processing facilities, but also extends to at least one petting zoo, whose owner described the heartbreaking process of saying goodbye to more than four dozen chickens and ducks.

WATCH | The risks of avian flu: 

A housecat has died in the United States after eating raw pet food and contracting H5N1 bird flu. Epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos tells CBC News the risk of any individual pet getting avian flu is still low, but what is concerning is the easier it becomes for it to infect different types of animals, ‘the easier it will ultimately become for this virus to infect humans.’

That’s much the same as how Universal Ostrich describes its animals — who Pasitney has been introducing on social media to drum up support — the petting zoo’s owner said their birds “each had names and were more than just ‘livestock.'”

In a statement posted this week, the CFIA acknowledged the emotional toll the death of animals can take but said its job is to minimize the risk of the virus spreading, including potentially to humans.

“Our disease response has aimed to protect public and animal health, minimize impacts on the domestic poultry industry, and the Canadian economy.… In domestic poultry, including ostriches, this is accomplished through the timely depopulation of domestic birds on infected premises.”

The duty to do this, the agency said, is outlined in its mandate under the Health of Animals Act and the World Organisation for Animal Health, of which Canada is a member.

Risks vs. benefits in culling decisions

Avian flu can spread rapidly between domestic and wild birds, whose long migration patterns give even more opportunity for the disease to be passed on between communities and into other animal populations, including humans.

Speaking in a video court session Friday, the legal counsel for the CFIA emphasized the agency’s position and job in minimizing that risk.

“Whether or not the birds recover and appear healthy is not the concern when implementing a cull policy,” said lawyer Paul Saunders. 

“That concern also includes the potential for the mutation of the virus among healthy birds…. an infection in birds could be a precursor to a human flu pandemic. Regardless of how likely that is, once it happens, it’s happened, so that is a concern motivating the CFIA’s response.”

Universal Ostrich’s case was argued by lawyer Michael Carter, who said that both the courts and the CFIA should take into account the “unique circumstances” of the ostrich farm, including its remote location and the difference between the large, flightless birds and the poultry farms where most of the culls so far have taken place.

He said the CFIA had other options at its disposal which should be considered, including ongoing quarantine and monitoring of the birds, and he criticized the agency’s “automatic stamping out” policy.

Both sides agreed that one of the key questions before the court was that of the relative risks the public should have to bear when it comes to allowing the birds to live — a question not easily answered, according to veterinary experts.

In an email to CBC News, J. Scott Weese, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College, said the practice makes sense in general “when there’s widespread infection, risk to people around the animals, limited other exposure risk,” and in cases where there’s limited value — be it economic, personal or for conservation purposes — of the animals being killed.

He urged caution around claims that the remaining ostriches on the farm might be immune to avian flu, noting that research in the field is weak, but said there is less of an argument in favour of a cull from a disease-control standpoint now that the H5N1 strain of avian flu has been well-established. 

“An individual group of birds is a drop in the bucket now,” he said. “Culling probably has little population benefit.” 

He added, though, that from a “risk aversion standpoint,” a cull is the “easiest thing” to do.

And the risks of allowing avian flu to spread are especially pronounced in B.C. where, last year, a 13-year-old girl was the first in Canada to be domestically infected with H5N1. She spent several weeks in intensive care at B.C. Children’s Hospital after experiencing respiratory failure and pneumonia.

LISTEN | An interview with Universal Ostrich: 

An ostrich farm in the West Kootenay is the site of Canada’s first avian flu outbreak in ostriches.It’s been ordered to cull the entire herd of birds, which has devastated the owners.

Elsewhere, including in the United States, human death following infection has been reported and there are fears that if avian flu is allowed to spread and mutate, it could happen in Canada, too.

“The CFIA takes the responsibility to protect the health of animals and Canadians extremely seriously as we conduct these necessary disease control measures to protect public health,” the CFIA said in its statement.

The agency also said it has veterinarians and inspectors who work with farmers to come up with a humane plan for the killing of their birds, and that if the farms do not comply they can face fines and jail time.

It added that owners can be compensated — up to $3,000 per bird in the case of ostriches — with supporting documentation.

“While compensation may not offset the emotional toll of depopulation, it can provide resources to recover and reestablish operations,” CFIA said.

But that’s not feasible for Universal Ostrich, Pasitney said. Her mother is in her 60s, her business partner in his 70s, and they don’t feel they can start over with a new set of birds, especially ones as finicky as ostriches.

“They’re in the pecking order,” Pasitney said. “They know them.”

Growing support

And the farm owners have found a sympathetic audience for their story.

Rights group Animal Justice has become involved, arguing that rather than mass culls, Canada should focus on improving conditions at large-scale poultry farms where birds are kept in more confined conditions.

The cause has also been picked up by groups and individuals previously associated with protesting public health measures surrounding COVID-19, in part because of the farm’s insistence that their ostriches have “natural antibodies” and should be studied to find out if they may help in fighting diseases in humans or other animals.

Chief among those groups is B.C. Rising, whose website includes a section arguing that COVID-19 was part of a United Nations-led plot to take control of vast swaths of land and that 15-minute cities, an urban planning tool aimed at creating walkable neighbourhoods, is actually a plot to trap people in individual sectors of their city.

The site now has a section titled “Save Our Ostriches” with plans to convoy to Universal Ostrich on Saturday to protest and observe, urging participants to bring cameras but to leave “political signs or flags” at home and reminding members to remain peaceful.

Asked about the post, which Pasitney has shared, she said while she doesn’t endorse every idea from her family’s supporters, she does welcome the public outcry on behalf of their ostriches.

“We’re just trying to do what’s right,” she said. “I’m blown away.”