Co-Owner and Daughter of BC Ostrich Farm Facing Cull Order Arrested

The co-owner of a B.C. ostrich farm and her daughter were arrested by RCMP Sept. 23, fellow co-owner Dave Bilinski says. The two were released later the same day.

The arrests of Universal Ostrich Farms co-owner Karen Espersen and her daughter Katie Pasitney occurred the day after RCMP entered the property along with agents from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to enforce a cull order against the farm’s 399 ostriches.

Bilinski said Espersen and Pasitney had been arrested in a corner area of the ostrich pen after being told they would be allowed to feed the ostriches. He added that CFIA has “total control” of their property at this time.

“We’re becoming a police state. We don’t have any rights,” Bilinski said on Sept. 23, commenting on Espersen and Pasitney’s arrest.

A Facebook video posted by Shadoe Davis shows farm supporter and negotiator Jeff Gaudry reporting that five police cars were sent to arrest Pasitney and Espersen.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark declined to confirm their identities but said the individuals refused to leave the pen and “were subsequently arrested.” Clark said they were arrested under the Health of Animals Act and were brought to the RCMP command post for processing, though no charges have been laid.

The two were later released on Sept. 23, with orders not to go back into the pen with the ostriches or obstruct the CFIA in any way.

RCMP officers accompanied CFIA staff to Universal Ostrich Farms on the morning of Sept. 22 to execute a warrant. The farm, located in Edgewood, B.C., has been appealing an order by the CFIA to cull its flock of 399 ostriches after 69 of its birds died late last year, two of which tested positive for avian influenza in PCR tests.

Pasitney shared a video on Facebook the night of Sept. 22 in which a CFIA official tells the family they can stay overnight in the pen with their ostriches but must vacate the property by Sept. 23 or face “consequences.”

The CFIA didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“All we’ve asked is the right to feed these animals humanely so they don’t go into fear and shock right away,” Pasitney said in a video posted on the morning of Sept. 23, alongside her mother. “That we just remain their regular routine while they get prepared to do their big mass murder.”

RCMP spokesperson Vanessa Munn said the RCMP is on-site at the farm to ensure the CFIA can operate without any disturbances.

“Our primary role is to keep the peace and enforce the law while CFIA agents conduct their business,” Munn said in a Sept. 23 email to The Epoch Times.

Owners Dispute CFIA Statements

In a previous statement to The Epoch Times, the CFIA said the farm’s ostrich herd is dangerous to humans and animals due to a form of H5N1 linked to human infection in the United States.

According to the CFIA, the cull order will be carried out in compliance with the “stamping out” policy set by the World Organization for Animal Health.

“Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist,” CFIA said in a June 25 statement.

Pasitney said the birds have herd immunity and have had no symptoms in 252 days. She also disputes the accuracy of the PCR tests conducted on the birds in December that led to the cull order issued by the CFIA. According to the farm, the birds have valuable medical research potential that would be lost by culling the herd.

Steven Pelech, a University of British Columbia neurology professor in the Department of Medicine, who also serves as president of the company Kinexus Bionformatics, says the CFIA has not conducted proper testing on the birds and would be destroying valuable research, including potential COVID-19 and cancer therapeutics, if the cull order goes ahead.

“We can use these ostriches to produce antibodies against other targets, like cancer proteins,” Pelech said in an Aug. 29 interview with The Epoch Times.

The CFIA has offered to pay up to $3,000 per bird slaughtered, while Pelech says one ostrich egg alone can have $40,000 to $50,000 worth of antibodies.

Legal Challenges

The family has unsuccessfully challenged the cull order in several levels of court, insisting that the 399 surviving ostriches are now healthy, asymptomatic, and important for scientific research. Pasitney said on Sept. 22 that the farm’s lawyer Umar Sheikh was submitting documents in an effort to have the Supreme Court of Canada consider the case.

Pasitney said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration offered to conduct free testing on the birds, but the CFIA blocked it, having already rejected Universal Ostrich Farms’ earlier request to carry out independent testing of their flock.

The farm’s case has drawn international attention including support from administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, American billionaire John Catsimatidis, and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., all of whom have asked that the cull order be rescinded.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.