Karen Espersen, the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, embraces her daughter, Katie Pasitney, at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., following the announcement that the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the farm鈥檚 appeal to stay an order to cull more than 300 of its ostriches on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
A sign calling for the protection of ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farms is displayed at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
Karen Espersen, right, the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, speaks with supporters with her daughter, Katie Pasitney, at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
Karen Espersen, the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, embraces her daughter, Katie Pasitney, at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., following the announcement that the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the farm鈥檚 appeal to stay an order to cull more than 300 of its ostriches on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
Aaron Hemens
A sign calling for the protection of ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farms is displayed at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Saturday, May 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
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Karen Espersen, right, the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, speaks with supporters with her daughter, Katie Pasitney, at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens
EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA - The 好色tv Food Inspection Agency says it will move forward with "complete depopulation" of hundreds of ostriches at a British Columbia farm after the owners lost a bid to have their case against the cull heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The agency said in a statement on Thursday that it has respected all orders of the courts "and expects the ostrich farm owners and supporters to do the same now that the Supreme Court of Canada has issued its judgment."
The High Court's decision not to hear a final appeal by the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in the southern Interior community of Edgewood, B.C., comes more than 10 months after the CFIA issued the cull order following detection of an avian flu outbreak.
Thursday's ruling removed any legal impediment to commencing the killings, after previous rulings against the farm in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.
Supporters at the farm formed a prayer circle as co-owner Dave Bilinski delivered news of the high court's decision.
鈥淢aybe a miracle will happen yet,鈥 he said, as one protester called the CFIA "criminals," and said she would move out of Canada, as another muttered that the decision was "disgusting."
The group then held a prayer asking for a 鈥渕iracle Thursday鈥
Supporters had been gathering at the property ahead of the decision, vehicles filing in before first light as rain streamed down.
The farm's owners have argued the surviving ostriches show no signs of illness and should be spared because they have scientific value, while the inspection agency says ostriches that appear healthy may still spread the disease.
The CFIA and police arrived at the farm in September and took custody of the flock, which the agency says numbers between 300 to 330 birds.
That month, co-owner Karen Espersen and daughter Katie Pasitney, the farm's spokeswoman, were arrested by the RCMP after refusing to leave the ostriches' pen. They were later released.
Pasitney said Thursday she would make it her "life's mission" to ensure the CFIA would no longer be able to operate in the same way.
She told the media after hearing the ruling that what comes next would be traumatized animals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 murdering, murdering healthy animals that have been 35 years on this planet,鈥 she said.
鈥淭hey are prehistoric animals that have survived millions of years, but they won't survive the 好色tv Food Inspection Agency.鈥
On social media, the protesters have long argued the cull order is an example of government overreach, likening their protest movement to the "Freedom Convoy" that paralyzed downtown Ottawa in early 2022.
They staged "Ostrichfest" music concerts where performers included convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich.
They also drew attention from across the border, with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sending a letter to the president of the CFIA earlier this year asking him to reconsider the cull.
Bilinski told the crowd of supporters on Thursday that the cull order by the CFIA is 鈥渢otally ridiculous.鈥澛
鈥淭hey won't listen to the science. They know God damn well that those birds have the strongest antibodies out there right now and they're destroying them. I'm afraid there's 鈥 in my opinion 鈥 there's no justice left.鈥
He said the CFIA didn鈥檛 test any of the birds 鈥渂ecause they know they don鈥檛 have the virus, they鈥檙e loaded with antibodies.鈥
Pasitney said they were waiting to hear from their lawyer to see if there was anything more that could be done to save the birds.
鈥淏ut I promise you, the 好色tv Food Inspection Agency has just given us so much more, more fight for every farmer out there because under our watch we will never ever let another farmer go through this, and I know that the world isn't going to either.鈥
鈥 With files from Jim Bronskill in Ottawa.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 6, 2025.