2 people arrested, released at B.C. ostrich farm facing cull over avian flu

The fuss and girl at the centre of the struggle o'er the fate of a fold of B.C. Ostriches facing a cull order in the B.C. Interior were arrested and released by RCMP Tuesday.

Katie Pasitney is the spokesperson for Universal Ostrich, which is co-owned by her mother Karen Esperson, in the rural community of Edgewood, east of Kelowna.

In a release, RCMP say two individuals were arrested for "obstructing [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] agents from performing their duties" and goes on to say the duo "have been processed and released."

Though they are not named in the RCMP release, a video posted to Facebook by Thundra Amo Kerr shows farm co-owner Dave Bilinski telling a group of supporters that Esperson and Pasitney had been arrested around noon.

The pair are also named by a man wearing clothing that identifies him as an RCMP liaison officer in a video posted to the same account.

In the video, the unnamed officer explains that the pair were warned of the arrest if they continued to stay with the birds after being given a warrant Monday.

"They knew this was going to be the next circumstance, right? It was going to be the next stage," he says.

He then states that the pair would be released if they signed an undertaking agreeing to certain conditions they would have to follow, which includes not returning to the farm.

The Canadian Press reported that Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said two people inside the ostrich enclosure refused to leave and "were subsequently arrested."

Klark previously told reporters that RCMP are at the farm at the request of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to enforce the law, secure the property and ensure the safety of the public and CFIA officers "as they conduct their business."

The arrests mark the latest in an increasingly tense situation at the farm which has been fighting the cull order for ten months, attracting worldwide attention.

Read more about the background of this case: How the fate of a herd of ostriches on a small B.C. Farm caught the attention of the Trump administration.

Backed by RCMP, the CFIA served a warrant on the property on Monday, where the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms have been fighting a cull order prompted by an outbreak of avian influenza in December 2024 that killed 69 of their ostriches.

In a video posted to Facebook Tuesday morning by Pasitney, a man wearing a jacket labeled "RCMP" tells Pasitney she will be arrested if she doesn't leave.

"You have to leave the property ... The other option is, my compatriots here have to come in and arrest you," the man says.

The video is filmed through the ostriches' pen and shows CFIA officials and multiple police officers on the other side of its wire fence. 

In a separate video posted by Pasitney, a man, who identifies himself as a CFIA inspector, tells the farmers they would be allowed to stay in the birds' pen overnight Monday.

However, the unnamed man says the CFIA has control of the property and there would be "consequences" if the farmers did not leave voluntarily overnight or on Tuesday.

Supporters of the farm who were at the site Monday were yelling at the officers present, with one witness yelling at police to "have a heart" and telling them that "the world is watching."

The farmers have brought their fight to save about 400 surviving ostriches to multiple levels of court, arguing they are now healthy and scientifically valuable, while the CFIA has said the birds were infected with a more lethal strain of the virus.

The federal 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 is 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 outbreaks.

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

The farmers have repeatedly called for testing to determine the birds' status, and Pasitney told the media Monday that the farmers' lawyer was filing paperwork in an attempt to have the case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

In multiple videos posted by Pasitney and her supporters, emotions can be seen running high as individuals opposed to the cull appeal to police and CFIA staff not to carry it out.

In some videos, Esperson and Pasitney are in tears as they plead to be allowed to stay with the birds even as they face the cull.

They have also urged their supporters to flood the phone lines and email addresses of anyone they believe can help, including local SPCA and humane societies, as well as RCMP and CFIA non-emergency lines.

Several businesses believed to be contracted to support the cull have also been targeted. 

Over the weekend a local vehicle rental company was slammed with negative reviews after word got out that part of their fleet had been contracted to support the operation.

They later issued a statement saying they had recalled their vehicles from the CFIA and stating they did not know they would be used in the operation.

Pasitney has also posted to Facebook urging supporters to call local hotels, fuel companies and other businesses whose services may be utilized by the CFIA.

In their release, RCMP say they have received complaints from local businesses of "threats, intimidation and harassment."

"We are investigating these incidents and will take steps to ensure that those who unlawfully interfere with or threaten the safety of any person or property may be held accountable in accordance with the laws of Canada," the statement reads.

The local regional district has already stated it would not accept the carcasses of the birds at their landfills.

The CFIA has not provided details of how the cull will take place, nor how the agency will dispose of the birds.

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