Ostrich farm defends 'animal rights' after culling order delayed
A community of freedom-loving Canadians continue to gather at an ostrich farm in Edgewood, B.C., peacefully resisting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's plan to kill the healthy flock.
Peaceful resistance is mounting at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., against a kill order for hundreds of healthy ostriches.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claims the birds tested positive for H5N1 avian flu last year. The farmers, who abided by ongoing quarantine measures, noted that the older birds in the flock, some of whom had already recovered, were asymptomatic.
Despite the farmers' claims that the 400 remaining birds are healthy, the CFIA refused a request for testing before greenlighting the cull.
An ostrich guardian (protester) has set up a massive https://t.co/qpFo3HjCs9 banner alongside the highway just outside of the farm.
— Drea Humphrey (@DreaHumphrey) May 15, 2025
Signs pleading for help to save the birds line the entrance.
Background and more to come at: https://t.co/ziF2wnKOdh pic.twitter.com/4GN8x4V88K
Just last week, a federal court sided with the CFIA, granting the agency permission to carry out its kill order after the farm challenged it in a judicial review.
The ruling was devastating for farm co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, as well as their daughter Katie Pasitney, who grew up with the birds and has led much of the advocacy work to save them. The court not only greenlit the slaughter, but also ordered the family to pay $15,000 in costs on top of ongoing legal fees still being covered through public donations.
Despite the remaining ostriches being healthy, the CFIA's insistence on their slaughter was viewed by farmers and supporters as an alarming overreach with potentially harmful implications for farms nationwide.
Yesterday, Central Kootenay's Regional District entered the fray by declining untested animal carcasses without a positive result for H5N1, delaying the cull and eliciting an emotional response from the farm's supporters.
While filming interviews for this report, I captured that powerful moment.
The reaction was raw and emotional — and I’ll admit, I shed a few tears myself while filming it.
The protesters, some wearing "ostrich sheriff" badges, are prepared for a firm, nonviolent stand against perceived bureaucratic overreach.
They are camped out in tents and trailers on the property, united in prayer and breaking bread together.
Make sure to watch my full report, which highlights the community's commitment to fighting for these birds and farmers' rights.
Rebel News will remain on the ground to keep you updated on what happens next. Please visit SaveTheOstriches.com if you would like to pitch towards our reporting costs.
If you would like to donate directly towards Universal Ostrich Farm, you can do so by clicking here.
Drea Humphrey
B.C. Bureau Chief
Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.
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COMMENTS
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Charles drchuckus commented 2025-05-18 20:18:44 -0400I heard about you on Caravan to Midnight… and it boils down to evil idiots, and I can fully appreciate being frustrated with using common sense to state your case. It’s so difficult to argue with “stupid”. Dr Byram’s scientific argument made complete sense me. Unfortunately we bear the burden of truth and sensibilities. Let’s try exposing and shaming the autocrats if all else fails. -
S M commented 2025-05-18 12:56:54 -0400I just watched a US made selfie video on why these Ostrich want to be culled, are the eggs being used by a Japanese research firm for their medical benefits and is the Canadian Government along with “Pharma” try to suppress the science? The maker of the video asked AI about the benefits of the Ostrich eggs.
video link
https://www.tiktok.com/@jason.parsons83/video/7505491349798423851?r=1&t=ZM-8wSaptusvqB -
Bobby Levit-Geciw commented 2025-05-18 09:17:58 -0400What is the SPCA’s stance?
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Peter Wrenshall commented 2025-05-17 20:03:18 -0400I’m cheering for Universal Ostrich Farms, and I fervently hope that for once the feds are checkmated. But as was demonstrated during the truckers’ protest, nothing, not the law, not the Charter, not our fundamental rights, will stand in the way when Ottawa decides to put the boot on our faces. Still, let’s be optimistic.
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Rudy Kraus commented 2025-05-17 13:40:12 -0400These culls make little sense and there is no evidence that they have been effective in the US. Why kill healthy stock?
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Don Hrehirchek commented 2025-05-17 13:26:19 -0400Excellent words of education, Scott P. Thanks.
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Scott Phillips commented 2025-05-17 13:02:52 -0400This isn’t about disease prevention, this is simply about removing our food supply, killing local businesses, and driving up costs. It’s also part of a scare tactic to get people to take (or force others to take) their ‘snakeoil’ injections , and also give the shots to food animals. They’ve been doing it everywhere for a few years now. Killing millions and millions of animals. Some people at the CFIA may be aware of this, but more likely they are just brainwashed idiots following orders.
The objective here is mainly to gain more control, and steal more wealth from us. An extremely well funded and planned con job that has been going on for decades.
And flu and colds are not what we’ve been told either. I’ve done a ton of research into this since the COVID scam started in 2019, and what they call cold and flu is simply our bodies response to various deficiencies (like vitamins D and C) and/or exposure to toxic substances (some of which is in the food), and/or parasites.
One small bit of evidence from a mountain of it….
During the Spanish flu they gave the soldiers who got it vaccinations….before they got sick.
The doctors who were trying to treat it did a lot of tests to see how it was being transmitted. Including having healthy people breath in a sick person’s breath, and even (gross) swapping spit. And the healthy people didn’t get sick.
On top of this they discovered that moving the patients out doors in the sun, and removing their masks, caused them to get well very fast. (There are pictures of this, where they have a ton of them outside in beds.)
Info like this is buried. They don’t want us to know as there’s no money to be made in people being healthy. Plus their actions have resulted in a lot of death and suffering. These people are parasitic psychopaths. They produce nothing, live off of us, and have no empathy for anyone. They care only about themselves. -
Don Hrehirchek commented 2025-05-17 12:44:55 -0400As usual, government knows best. Didn’t You know that ? I am very sarcastic in My words! Good for the people to stand up to communism.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-05-16 20:50:17 -0400What pig-headed bureaucrats the CFIA has! It’s obvious that these birds aren’t mixing with domestic poultry and neither are they meant for human consumption. Instead of understanding the research purpose of this farm, the blockheads at CFIA want them culled. I’m glad people are camped out and are supporting the farmers.
