3 MLAs are supporting a B.C. farming family whose 400 ostriches are to be culled [Video]

A member of an ostrich farming family held back tears Thursday as she called on the provincial government to help stop the cull of their 400 birds. 

Katie Pasitney, spokesperson for Universal Ostrich Farm owned by her parents, said she is hopeful that her meeting with provincial officials, including B.C.’s Agriculture Minister Lana Popham, will lead to changes that would save the birds because of their potential significance to the poultry industry. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered their cull in late 2024 after an avian flu outbreak, but a Federal Court granted them a stay of execution in late January pending a judicial review. 

The family and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency now await a ruling from a Federal Court judge on the fate of the animals. A decision is expected to come early next week. 

Pasitney said the animals living on her parents’ farm in Edgewood, B.C., are …