CP NewsAlert: RCMP escort CFIA to execute search warrant on B.C. ostrich farm
By Canadian Press on September 22, 2025.
EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — Mounties say they have been requested to attend an ostrich farm in British Columbia’s Interior where about 400 birds have been ordered culled.
An RCMP statement says police support is being given to the lead agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which has been “granted lawful authority to execute a search warrant.”
A spokeswoman for the farm, Katie Pasitney, says a convoy of police vehicles and waste disposal trucks is outside the property in Edgewood, B.C.
A live video posted on Facebook shows the vehicles driving along the road heading toward the farm.
Pasitney asks the farm’s followers in the video to please “stop the massacre” from happening.
Some of the birds on the farm were infected by avian flu and ordered destroyed, but the farm’s owners delayed the order by going to court in a failed attempt to prevent the cull.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.
The Canadian Press
11-10
I don’t have a problem with the cull due to the contagion, but if the government is forcing it, the government should pay market value for each bird culled, and there should be no charges for cleanup and disposal.
It the farm is forced to do so by court order, then they should not have to endure the costs. I know that could set a precedent for turkey and chicken farms which have had to cull millions of birds over the last few years in that province, but 400 ostriches are a massive loss for any size of farm and could bankrupt them. That is not fair!