By Canadian Press

Conservative MP working to stop B.C. ostrich cull as farm’s supporters gather

May 15, 2025 | 1:38 PM

Conservative MP Scott Anderson says he’s trying to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from killing a flock of hundreds of ostriches on a farm in his riding, after a Federal Court ruling this week that the cull could proceed.

Anderson says he visited Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood in southeast B.C. on Wednesday and the family that owns the birds is “quite devastated” at the prospect of the flock of about 400 birds being killed over concerns about avian flu.

He says the case has caused widespread fear in the animal husbandry industry over worries that the federal agency can come in and cull every animal on a farm “including in some cases cats and dogs.”

Anderson says he visited the farm earlier this year, and there’s now a greater sense of “trepidation” over the impending cull since Tuesday’s ruling.

He says he spoke to the farmers briefly on Wednesday but didn’t engage with a crowd that has gathered after owner Karen Espersen issued a call on social media for supporters to surround the property and block the cull.

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Videos and photos posted on social media show dozens of people, tents, caravans and vehicles on the property, with fences draped in flags and banners.

A meeting of the Regional District of Central Kootenay on Thursday was attended by about 300 people online, many objecting to the cull.

Officials and staff were asked why the district wasn’t trying to halt the cull or the disposal of the carcasses at a district landfill, while others suggested the avian flu virus does not exist and the need for the cull was fraudulent.

District vice-chairman Aiden McLaren-Caux said the cull was “horrifying,” but the district “would likely have little legal standing” to refuse to accept the carcasses at the landfill.

“We can say what we want (to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency). They don’t have to listen to us,” he said.

Uli Wolf, the district’s general manager of environmental services, said the district had been told to expect 50 to 75 tonnes of waste as a result of the cull but this was not a “significant increase to the organic loading” of the landfill and therefore presented no additional health risk.

Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, attended the meeting in person and said the district should refuse to accept the carcasses of the ostriches “that hold way more value alive than they do dead.”

“Our animals are happy, they’re healthy, they’re laying eggs, they’re beautiful,” she said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has defended its decision to proceed with the cull, saying on Wednesday that allowing a domestic flock “known to be exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press