B.C. ostrich farm facing cull ponders moving birds to U.S. as ‘last resort’
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2025 (191 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – The family that operates a British Columbia ostrich farm facing a federal cull says it may look into the process of moving the birds to the United States as a “last resort.”
Katie Pasitney, whose parents own Universal Ostrich Farm in Edgewood, B.C., says the family is also urging the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to consider the proposals by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to save the ostriches for research rather than culling them.
Pasitney, who was speaking in a video on Facebook Live, says her family is aware that U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has offered to relocate the birds to Florida.
She says the family is open to starting the process of testing the birds to see if relocation is possible “as a last resort.”
The CFIA website says exporting livestock animals requires certification from the agency “to ensure that only healthy animals and animal products and byproducts meeting the import health requirements of an importing country are exported from Canada.”
The ostrich farm suffered an avian flu outbreak earlier, and the CFIA said in its statement Friday that culling the surviving animals is necessary because the mutation of the virus seen at the farm is one not seen elsewhere in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.