EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — Katie Pasitney, whose mother co-owns the British Columbia ostrich farm where hundreds of the birds were shot dead in a cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says she is focused on creating change for other farmers.
Standing on the highway overlooking the field where the cull took place Thursday night, Pasitney says the CFIA’s so-called stamping-out policy is “broken” as it fails to prevent mounting outbreaks of avian influenza in B.C. and other parts of Canada.
She says the farm near Edgewood in southeastern B.C. is “ground zero for change” in outbreak response, but adds her family will “never recover from this.”
The owners of Universal Ostrich Farms had been fighting the cull order issued during an avian flu outbreak last New Year’s Eve, but their hopes were dashed Thursday as the Supreme Court of Canada said it would not hear their case.
The cull went ahead that night, with sounds of gunfire starting at about 6 p.m. from within a hay-bale pen built by the CFIA, a method Pasitney describes as inhumane.
A statement from the CFIA says using “professional marksmen” was the “most appropriate and human option” to kill the flock of about 300 to 330 birds.
Pasitney’s voice filled with emotion as she described her father, who uses a wheelchair, crying because he felt he couldn’t protect his family and their ostriches.
“In a way I feel like I failed ’cause I couldn’t protect my mum,” she said through tears during an interview Friday as dead ostriches were loaded into containers in the field behind her, though the view was largely obstructed by the hay-bale enclosure.
“Our land that had so much life 24 hours ago is a cold, empty shell,” Pasitney said. “We’re going to use that as motivation and we’re going to change Canada.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2025.
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
