{"id":107252,"date":"2025-08-30T06:46:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T06:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/107252\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T06:46:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T06:46:32","slug":"billionaire-and-dr-oz-rally-for-edgewood-b-c-ostrich-farm-ahead-of-planned-cull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/107252\/","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire and Dr. Oz rally for Edgewood, B.C. ostrich farm ahead of planned cull"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another day of uncertainty looms over Edgewood\u2019s Universal Ostrich<\/a> Farm after the owners lost their final appeal to prevent the culling of nearly 400 ostriches. The birds tested positive for avian flu last winter, and their fate now rests with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t wish this on any farmer, nor any Canadian citizen,\u201d said Katie Pasitney, co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farm. \u201cIt\u2019s been anxiety, fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case has attracted international attention. U.S. radio host and billionaire John Catsimatidis and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, held a press conference Monday calling on Canadian authorities to allow further testing of the birds from the FDA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here because we\u2019re concerned about these iconic, ancient animals,\u201d said Catsimatidis.<\/p>\n

Dr. Oz added, \u201cI think we have an opportunity to do something helpful for Canada, for the United States, and for the global community \u2014 if we can learn from the 400 ostriches currently in British Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Farm owners argue the birds have shown no symptoms in over 200 days and have likely developed herd immunity. They believe the ostriches could offer critical insights into avian flu resistance and should be studied, not destroyed.<\/p>\n

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The Federal Court of Appeal disagreed, ruling that the CFIA acted reasonably. In a statement, the agency said, \u201cWe conduct these necessary disease control measures to protect public health and minimize the economic impact on Canada\u2019s poultry industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Oz has offered to relocate the ostriches to his Florida ranch, where he says they could continue to be researched.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an incredible opportunity to advance science,\u201d he said. \u201cThese birds were able to withstand a potentially deadly virus. Why would we throw away that unique insight?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pasitney echoed that sentiment: \u201cIf Canada refuses to collaborate and insists on killing them, then moving the ostriches to Florida may be the only option left.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The farm is now seeking an emergency stay order, and may even appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Legal fees have already climbed to roughly $35,000 USD, all covered by Catsimatidis in a final effort to save the flock.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another day of uncertainty looms over Edgewood\u2019s Universal Ostrich Farm after the owners lost their final appeal to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,56163,61088,295,56021,66],"class_list":["post-107252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dr-oz","tag-edgewood","tag-environment","tag-ostrich","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}