{"id":95907,"date":"2025-08-25T13:09:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T13:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/95907\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T13:09:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T13:09:22","slug":"a-unanimous-no-edgewood-b-c-ostrich-farm-loses-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/95907\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A unanimous no\u2019: Edgewood, B.C. ostrich farm loses appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

After nearly eight months of fighting to save its flock, Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, B.C., has lost its final appeal to prevent a government-ordered cull.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency mandated the destruction of about 400 ostriches following an outbreak of avian influenza<\/a> on the farm last winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a call from our lawyer Thursday,\u201d co-owner Katie Pasitney said. \u201cA 41-page document came in. It was a unanimous no.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tB.C. ostrich farm loses appeal to save 400 birds from cull over avian flu\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The farm had argued that the birds had been healthy for more than 200 days, showing no signs of the virus and developing herd immunity. Owners hoped the flock could be studied for potential scientific insights into disease resilience. But the Federal Court of Appeal ruled the CFIA acted within reason to protect public health and the country\u2019s poultry industry.<\/p>\n

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Pasitney called the decision \u201cextremely disappointing,\u201d warning of what it could mean for other independent farmers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt sets a dangerous precedent that we can\u2019t even test our own animals for health,\u201d she said. \u201cIt feels like they\u2019re not our animals \u2014 they\u2019re government-owned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFIA confirmed it will proceed with \u201cnecessary disease control measures\u201d to protect public health and minimize the economic impact on Canada\u2019s poultry industry.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur disease response aims to protect both public and animal health, as well as minimize impacts on the $6.8 billion domestic poultry industry, and the Canadian economy. This supports Canadian families and poultry farmers whose livelihoods depend on maintaining international market access for $1.75 billion in exports,\u201d the CFIA said.<\/p>\n

Animal Justice slammed the court\u2019s ruling, calling for a reassessment of the CFIA\u2019s disease control approach.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe ostriches don\u2019t deserve to die \u2014 whether by the hands of the CFIA, or by being slaughtered by Universal Ostrich farm for their meat. Ultimately, they are victims of a large-scale factory farming system that has allowed dangerous pathogens like avian influenza to spread and decimate birds trapped in the system,\u201d said Camille Labchuk, lawyer and executive director at Animal Justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe widespread public concern over this case shows why the CFIA must reassess its disease control policies, especially in cases where animals appear to have recovered and transmission risks may be considered low.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pasitney says destroying entire flocks \u2014 especially those showing signs of recovery \u2014 is a policy that needs to evolve.<\/p>\n

\u201cStamping out is a dangerous policy,\u201d Pasitney said. \u201cIt should never be a one-size-fits-all solution. We have a recovered flock here in Edgewood that has resiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Canada\u2019s Compensation for Destroyed Animals and Things Regulations, the farm could receive up to $3,000 per bird \u2014 roughly $1.2 million in total. But Pasitney says no amount of money can replace what they\u2019re about to lose.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have personalities and names. They deserve the decades more of life left in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With no clear timeline on when the cull will begin, Pasitney says she\u2019s now holding out hope for a last-minute emergency stay order \u2014 or for Prime Minister Mark Carney to step in and halt the destruction.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly eight months of fighting to save its flock, Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, B.C., has lost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[7394,49,48,53152,295,56021,66],"class_list":["post-95907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-avian-flu","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cfia","tag-environment","tag-ostrich","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95907","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=95907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}