B.C. ostrich farm facing cull ponders moving birds to U.S. as ‘last resort’

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.

The Canadian Press