Wall of hay bales constructed around B.C. ostriches ahead of CFIA cull

A wall of hay bales about three metres tall has been constructed at a British Columbia farm where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is organizing the cull and disposal of about 400 ostriches after an outbreak of avian flu in the herd.

Several tractor-trailers loaded high with hay rolled onto Universal Ostrich farms on Tuesday, not long after the arrests of two key people in the movement to stop the animals from being killed.

Ostriches could be seen grazing beyond the wall, where four people wearing head-to-toe white protective suits were visible from the highway near the farm.

Officials have not confirmed why the wall was installed or when the cull will happen.

RCMP earlier moved into the farm’s ostrich enclosure, where farm spokeswoman Katie Pasitney and her mother, Karen Espersen, stayed overnight amid the birds.

The two women were seen being loaded into a police van Tuesday morning.

Dave Belinski, the other owner of the farm, said he voluntarily left the enclosure before the arrests because he had to remove his truck from inside the pen.

Belinski, who still had blood crusted on his ears from receiving what he referred to as “love bites” from the ostriches earlier that day, said the women knew they would be arrested but had wanted it to happen close to where the crowd had gathered.

The inspection agency moved into the farm near Edgewood in southeastern B.C. on Monday with a police escort to prepare for the cull on the property where avian flu was detected last December. Almost 70 of the animals died in the months afterward, and the owners of the farm have fought the agency in Federal Court and over social media to try to keep the ostriches from being destroyed.

Pasitney, whose social media posts and videos have drawn worldwide attention to the ordered cull, had asked police on Tuesday if they would allow the farmers to feed the birds “humanely” and keep them calm without risking arrest. To that, an officer said it wasn’t his call.

Belinski said that about 30 minutes before the arrests, Pasitney told him they were being allowed to feed the animals.

“So, they were going out feeding, and they got arrested in the back corner where nobody is,” he said.

He said trust had been broken following the arrests, but added that until he talked to Pasitney and Espersen, he wouldn’t know the “whole story.”

RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the two were arrested under the Health of Animals Act. He said they were taken to the RCMP command post to be processed before they would be released.

They would be allowed to return home, but would be forbidden from going back into the ostrich enclosure, Clark said.

He told reporters that the RCMP is on the farm at the request of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to enforce the law, secure the property and ensure the safety of the public and CFIA officers “as they conduct their business.”

Later Tuesday, Pasitney returned to the property and told the media the family was holding onto hope.

She called it “nasty” for the RCMP to arrest her and her mother at the back of the enclosure after telling them they could feed the ostriches.

Pasitney said the pair had stayed in the birds’ pen not to “obstruct” but to keep the ostriches calm.

She said she was not allowed to cross the road to where the pen is located, before confirming that she and her mother have a scheduled court date.

Pasitney had posted a video earlier Tuesday saying there was “a lot of emotion” at the farm, where dozens of officers had gathered.

“We don’t know what today is going to bring,” she told the livestream at the time.

Supporters of the farm remained at the site Tuesday, with many filming and yelling at police following the arrests and throughout the day.

In a news release following the arrests Tuesday, the RCMP reiterated they were not the lead agency and had been called in by the CFIA due to “ongoing protest activity at the farm and increased tensions resulting from the various court proceedings over several months.”

“We are committed to remaining impartial and are mindful of our roles and responsibilities to the public to keep the peace and be part of the solution,” the statement said.

It said police had also received and were investigating complaints from businesses in the area who claimed they had received “threats, intimidation and harassment due to the dispute.”

Some supporters at the farm could be heard encouraging each other to write negative reviews online for any businesses involved in bringing equipment that would aid in the cull.

Lawyers for the farmers told the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal that the birds are now healthy and scientifically valuable, while the CFIA has said they were infected with a more lethal strain of the virus.

The agency has said in court documents that its policies do not provide for additional testing.

It said the chances the birds are infected or will become infected are unknown “due to gaps in the available science regarding how long immunity to (avian influenza) viruses may last in an individual ostrich,” as well as a lack of information about how many ostriches were infected during the original outbreak.

It said a source of infection or reinfection with avian influenza can remain in the environment long after individual infected birds have recovered.

In one of Pasitney’s final livestreams posted before her arrest, she said transport trucks carrying hay bales were on their way to the farm.

“They are going to make corrals of hay bales, and they’re going to dart or shoot our animals to death. If we don’t stop them in the next 24 hours, we’re going to lose everything.”

The bales had arrived around the time she returned to the farm after she was released from police custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025.

Brenna Owen and Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press