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How the fate of a herd of ostriches on a small B.C. farm caught the attention of the Trump administration [Video]

Canadian National News

Post author By Curator
Post date June 1, 2025

Edgewood, B.C. isn’t usually the sort of place that would be on the radar of high-ranking White House officials.

On the west shore of Lower Arrow Lake and surrounded by the Monashee Mountains, it’s a roughly 200-kilometre drive from Kelowna, B.C. on a windy road. An unincorporated community, the latest census put it at a population of 235 people working in farming, forestry and tourism.

But since December 2024, it’s been making international headlines over the fate of a group of ostriches living on one particular farm near the end of a rural road: Universal Ostrich, owned by Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski and whose spokesperson is Katie Pasitney, Espersen’s daughter.

In December, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) officials were tipped off that some of the large birds on the farm had died, with tests confirming the presence of avian flu. That resulted in a cull order, which the farm …