RCMP officers have arrived at Universal Ostrich Farms, the centre of an ongoing national protest against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) plans to cull a flock of 400 exotic birds, despite no current signs of illness.

The officers claimed they were on site to “talk to” the owners and perform a “wellness check.” But supporters on the ground fear the real motive was to case the property ahead of the CFIA’s highly contested cull, which the agency has vowed to carry out without warning.

The visit has intensified fear and tension at the farm, where a crowd of protesters from across the country has camped out for months to stand between the ostriches and what they call a senseless and unscientific slaughter.

The prehistoric birds, whose eggs were being used in cutting-edge antibody research related to non-mRNA defences against viruses like COVID-19 and avian flu, has become the focus of international concern, along with the threat culling healthy animals poses to farming sovereignty.

In December, the CFIA issued a culling order after claiming two deceased birds tested positive for H5N1 using the controversial PCR test to determine results.

The test’s inventor, the late, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Kary Mullis, warned against using it as a diagnostic tool.

“With PCR, if you do it well, you can find almost anything in anybody,” Mullis once said, cautioning that the test “doesn't tell you that you're sick, and it doesn't tell you that the thing you ended up with was really going to hurt you or anything like that.”

The agency’s refusal to conduct further testing, combined with threats of six months’ imprisonment and $250,000 fines if the farmers test their own birds, has sparked outrage from citizens, scientists, and politicians alike.

In February, the Federal Court granted co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski an emergency injunction to pause the cull. But on May 13, the court sided with the CFIA, allowing the agency to proceed.

Despite mounting political pressure — including public statements from independent MLAs, a federal Conservative MP, and even Premier David Eby opposing the cull — the CFIA told CBC it still plans to go forward without testing and without informing the family of when the slaughter will begin.

Perhaps the most striking political rebuke came from the Regional District of Central Kootenay, which voted unanimously to block the CFIA from dumping up to 300-pound ostrich carcasses at the local landfill unless the birds are tested to confirm infection.

Nevertheless, the farmer’s plight continues and as they race the clock to explore any grounds for an appeal to the Federal Court’s decision, which will be funded by supporters through crowdfunding. Their efforts were interrupted today by the RCMP’s arrival, which many thought meant the time had come for the birds.

Rebel News is embedded at the farm, documenting the tense standoff and the community’s desperate final efforts to delay the cull. Katie Pasitney, the adult daughter of of farm co-owner Karen Espersen, shared her thoughts shortly after their arrival.

“This is the emotions, this is the fear and these are the anxieties that an organization like the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is creating and it’s really not okay,” she said through tears.

“It’s been five months almost, where we’re hunkered down and just trying to fight for the right thing. We’ve had those two controversial PCR tests in December and those two controversial PCR tests in December came back with something — and then it became a war. A war against the farm rather than working with the truth and science, rather than trying to protect two livelihoods, and generations of us kids that have grown up with these animals. They watched me grow up, I watched them grow up. Instead, they’re at war with us. They’re at odds with us.”

“Since day one we’ve said, ‘Hey, work with us. We have a possible solution. We have a possible cure to stabilize this H5N1 crisis on a global scale. Let us work with you. Let us try to help stabilize this, let’s protect our farmers, let’s bring our science forward.’ And that has just been met with six months of resistance. That’s been met with the threat of six months in jail and the $200,000 fine.”

This is a developing story.

Rebel News remains on site around the clock to keep Canadians informed in real time. To support our ongoing investigative coverage of this government overreach, please donate at SaveTheOstriches.com.

Please help Rebel News send Drea to report on the cruel ostrich cull in Edgewood, B.C.

A shocking government-ordered ostrich cull is underway in Canada, leaving devastated farmers and outraged citizens demanding answers. The mainstream media refuses to tell the full story, but Rebel News is sending Drea Humphrey to report from the ground and expose the truth. Independent journalism like this depends on your support. Please donate here to help cover Drea's travel costs to get to and from the ostrich farm in Edgewood, British Columbia.

Optional email code

Amount

$25

$50

$75

$100

$250

$500

$1,000

$2,500

Other

$

One-time

Monthly

DONATE