Save Our Ostriches

This is Karen from the Ostrich Farm. The CFIA has given notice—they plan to come within 1 to 4 days to kill our birds.

These animals are our family. We’ve spent years earning their trust. They are happy, healthy, and deeply loved. This is unthinkable.

If we’ve ever needed help, it’s now. We are calling on everyone to come to the farm at 301 Langille Road and stand with us. Your presence can make a difference.

We must act together. Please share this and help us protect these animals.

— Karen Espersen

Dear friends and supporters,

We are absolutely devastated to share today’s Federal Court decision, issued on May 13, 2025. The court ruled in favour of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), upholding their order to destroy our beloved ostriches and rejecting our plea to save them.

The court’s decision accepted the CFIA’s justification under the Health of Animals Act and their use of the Stamping-Out Policy, which mandates the destruction of animals to control disease outbreaks, regardless of their health status. The court confirmed the CFIA’s approach, prioritizing trade obligations over the welfare of our animals.

In addition, we’ve been ordered to pay $15,000 in CFIA’s legal costs.

We are heartbroken by this outcome and uncertain about the future of our farm. As we navigate this incredibly difficult time, we ask for your patience and continued support. If you are able, please consider making a donation to help us manage the financial and emotional toll this has taken.

Thank you,
Universal Ostrich Farm
SaveOurOstriches.com

Read: Federal Court Decision 

May 8, 2025 – Jordan Kealy, MLA for Peace River North, presented the case of Universal Ostrich Farms during Oral Question Period in the BC Legislature.

The question was addressed to Hon. Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture and Food, who responded on behalf of the government.

We’re grateful the situation is being acknowledged at the provincial level as the farm awaits the federal judge’s decision on the fate of our ostriches.

See post: https://saveourostriches.com/press-releases/universal-ostrich-farms-bc-legislature/

Help Save Our Ostriches — Fighting for Truth, Health & Freedom

At Universal Ostrich Farms, we’ve spent years raising strong, healthy ostriches. For the past 3.5 years, we’ve focused on their ability to build natural immunity and produce virus-fighting antibodies.

Today, our herd is 84 days symptom-free — thriving, not dying.

But instead of celebrating, we’re in a legal fight with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which is pushing to destroy all our healthy birds. They are refusing to let us test the eggs — eggs that could prove herd immunity through robust antibodies. Our older birds survived symptoms in 2020, and testing at the time came back showing Pseudomonas bacteria, not H5N1. Even if it was H5N1, our birds survived and built immunity — a natural defense far stronger than killing them and replacing them with naive animals.

The CFIA continues to ignore the science, threatening us with jail time and $250,000 in fines — all while we head to Judicial Review on April 15–16, right before Easter weekend.

This fight goes beyond our farm. It’s about truth, land rights, scientific freedom, and protecting animals from broken policies that fail us all.

At this moment we are about $110,000 owing in legal fees. Money is power and we need as much support as we can right now.

We need your help.

• Donate now at saveourostriches.com
• Show up at the courthouse
• Stand with us. Speak out. Spread the word.
• Remember be kind, or farm is fighting for peace, and people coming together to create positive change

Thank you to everyone praying, sharing, donating, and standing with us.

Urgent 14 days till our Judicial Review

76 Days – No Symptomatic Deaths

91 Days – Under Quarantine

What began as a fight to protect our herd and highlight natural immunity, has become something much bigger. This is no longer just about one farm—this is about the future of agriculture, the role of science, and the rights of those who live and work with animals every day.

Despite mounting evidence and evolving science, the CFIA continues to push forward with a mandate that refuses to adapt or listen. They are moving farm to farm, ignoring the growing data, determined to destroy rather than understand.

We’ve worked tirelessly to provide groundbreaking data, including recent antibody tests conducted by a leading Canadian researcher in biochemistry. His findings show that our ostriches had previous exposure to H5N1 and developed strong natural immunity. We’ve even tested positive ourselves for antibodies to this same strain—while remaining perfectly healthy.

Still, CFIA refuses to acknowledge any of this. We are now filing a motion to test a small, controlled egg yolk sample to demonstrate that the virus is no longer present—proof that could save not only our herd, but inform global understanding of H5N1 resilience and response.

But we cannot do this alone. Legal costs are rising quickly, and this fight—if successful—will set precedent for many others. Slowing financial support directly weakens our ability to stand up against this.

We’re also laying the groundwork for a foundation that will support other farmers facing similar threats, long after this case is over.

We are asking, urgently, for your continued support. This is not just about our farm—it’s about defending truth, science, and the people who feed and care for this country.

April 15–16: Judicial Review in Vancouver

If we lose, the CFIA will return to destroy our herd.

To our supporters, thank you. We see you, and we are deeply grateful.

To those who continue to stand with us, know that your support is not just seen; it is felt in the deepest way. Together, we hold the line. Together, we demand better. Together, we fight for the truth and science to be respected.

If your business would like to support and be recognized with a promotional poster, please reach out directly.

Katie Pasitney

Now is the moment. It’s truly now or never.

Blessings,

From our farm, our family and of course our beautifully strong and healthy Ostriches.

URGENT UPDATE – OUR FIGHT FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES

We are in the fight of our lives to protect our farm, our animals, and the future of farming. The CFIA is pushing to cull our healthy ostriches based on just two PCR tests from December 30 — and they’ve threatened us with $200,000 in fines and/or 6 months in jail if we pursue third-party testing.

This is a direct attack on transparency and science.

KEY FACTS:

• Only 2 PCR tests have been done. CFIA refuses to re-test, despite 51+ days of herd immunity.

• 65 days in quarantine, zero symptoms — proof natural immunity is working.

• Mass culling is outdated, based on trade policies, not science. It wipes out natural immunity and harms ecosystems, food security, and long-term survival.

• H5N1 is spread by wild birds, not ostriches. So why target flightless birds with proven immune response?

• Ostrich antibodies = breakthrough science. Our animals could help fight future pandemics — yet CFIA wants them destroyed.

LEGAL BATTLE TIMELINE:

• Judicial Review: April 14–17

• Cross-Examination: March 17–18

• CFIA Deadline: End of this week

Thanks to all of your incredible generosity, we have already raised and paid $59,000 in legal fees. However, to continue this battle, we must raise another $41,000 by next week.

How to help:

• Donate and share at saveourostriches.com

• Follow and post on social media

• Even writing “saveourostriches.com” on your car window helps spread the word

Thank you for standing with us. We won’t back down.

With love,
Our Family, Our Farm, and Our Ostriches

To the public and our supporters,

We’re asking for your urgent support in our legal fight against the CFIA, which is moving to destroy hundreds of healthy ostriches — animals that may hold a breakthrough in disease treatment through their natural antibodies.

Instead of recognizing this potential, the CFIA is relying on outdated trade policies and failed culling practices that ignore science and threaten both animal and human health. Natural immunity is one of nature’s greatest defenses, and erasing it puts our entire ecosystem at risk.

This is bigger than one farm. It’s a fight for science, for food security, and for the future of medicine. We need your help — through donations, spreading the word, displaying signs, contacting media, or wearing Save Our Ostriches gear.

Let’s demand the CFIA put science before politics and protect what truly matters.

Thank you for standing with us. We’ve come this far because of you.

With love and thanks,
Katie and Karen

We’re fighting to save our animals, which could help save yours. Let’s not let the government make another mistake. Help protect the science that supports natural immunity and human survival. We are in urgent need of financial support for legal costs — please consider donating and sharing this fight to protect science, our farmers, freedom, and animals.

All donations go directly to legal costs.

Many Blessings,
Universal Ostrich Family