BC Conservatives Criticize Ostrich Cull as CFIA Moves Forward With Preparations

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 Sept. 22, 2025, as the Canadian Food Agency prepares to cull 400 of the farm’s ostriches this week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Hemens

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad is calling on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to test all of the birds at a B.C. ostrich farm before carrying out a potentially unwarranted cull on healthy animals.

Rustad called the situation at Universal Ostrich Farm near Edgewood in southeastern B.C., “crazy” now that CFIA officials are constructing a wall of hay bales roughly three metres tall as they prepare for the cull of 399 ostriches.