Mounties investigating after 2nd ostrich dies on B.C. farm facing cull order

Andrew Kurjata · CBC News

· Posted: May 23, 2025 8:07 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

RCMP accidental they are investigating aft a 2nd ostrich was recovered dormant successful suspicious circumstances connected a B.C. workplace wherever astir 400 of the birds person been ordered killed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Though a termination bid for the ostriches is successful place, the CFIA has said the cull volition beryllium "humane", with "veterinary oversight." In the meantime, the RCMP are monitoring the workplace to guarantee wide safety.

This is the second investigation into an ostrich decease astatine the workplace this year, with RCMP already investigating aft 1 of the birds was changeable connected March 21.

The latest probe was archetypal confirmed by the Canadian Press.

RCMP did not supply an update connected that earlier investigation, nor did they corroborate the circumstances of the astir caller death, which workplace spokesperson Katie Pasitney, whose parent is co-owner of Universal Ostrich, said occurred sometime past night.

In a bid of videos posted to Facebook Live, Pastiney said the workplace had mislaid a "big, beautiful, handsome" antheral vertebrate and that determination was a "clear introduction coiled and a wide exit wound."

She besides said the workplace had issues with drones successful the country but did not privation immoderate "misinterpretations" and asked supporters to instrumentality to the facts.

"We are not speculating," she said.

Pasitney said the workplace is moving with the RCMP and understands the probe volition instrumentality time.

"We're doing each the due things," she said. "Just nonstop prayers and emotion to the workplace close now."

WATCH | Supporters stitchery astatine Universal Ostrich: 

A fewer twelve supporters person been staying astatine the workplace since a tribunal ruling was issued May 13 stating that the cull, archetypal ordered by the CFIA successful December 2024, would beryllium allowed to proceed.

The justice did not measurement successful connected the technological arguments of the case, ruling that the CFIA has a mandate from the national authorities to grip cases similar culls, and it would beryllium inappropriate for the judiciary to get involved.

Instead, the ruling said the CFIA had followed the due channels and policies successful making its decision.

The CFIA has consistently said that aft investigating was done connected 2 dormant ostriches recovered connected the workplace successful December, it was confirmed avian flu had entered the flock. At that point, their argumentation is to "stamp out" the full colonisation of birds who whitethorn person been exposed to the disease, a argumentation that has resulted successful the sidesplitting of thousands of hens, turkeys and different home birds crossed the country.

Only 1 exemption has been granted, successful the lawsuit of a turkey workplace successful 2022 where avian flu had been detected successful 2 barns but not others connected the premises, due to the fact that those animals had been kept abstracted and information measures had been taken to forestall the imaginable dispersed of illness betwixt the antithetic structures — conditions that bash not beryllium astatine Universal Ostrich wherever inspectors observed chaotic birds, weasels and "unauthorized individuals" walking among infected animals, successful usurpation of quarantine policy, according to the tribunal ruling.

The CFIA says this argumentation is indispensable successful bid to unrecorded up to Canada's planetary obligations for illness power done economical treaties, arsenic good arsenic to instrumentality each measurement imaginable to effort to forestall avian flu from mutating and spreading further, perchance making it much unsafe to some animals and humans.

But the workplace and its supporters reason that portion 69 birds died during the archetypal outbreak, the past decease occurred successful January, and since then, each the surviving ostriches are "happy and healthy" and should beryllium allowed to live. They've called connected the CFIA to behaviour follow-up testing.

The section determination territory has besides voted not to person the carcasses of immoderate of the killed birds astatine section landfills unless follow-up investigating is conducted and released publicly.

However, the CFIA said successful a connection released to CBC News connected Friday that "for poultry operations," which includes ostriches, "a azygous laboratory confirmed lawsuit of H5 avian influenza is capable to state a premises infected, fixed however easy the illness tin dispersed to different birds."

It says duplicate samples were collected from 2 dormant ostriches astatine the workplace connected Dec. 30, 2024 and confirmed the beingness of avian flu.

"Operational plans and dates for the humane depopulation volition not beryllium shared with the nationalist successful advance," the bureau said.