Ostrich farm devastated but defiant after Canadian government slaughtered 300 birds

The killing at Universal Ostrich Farms (UOF) began at 6 p.m. (PT) on Thursday evening. Supporters documented their anger, shock and disbelief over the massacre on thousands of social media posts. The farmers are devastated but determined that what happended to them not happen to other farms in Canada.

The family had steeled themselves for this all day after learning that The Supreme Court of Canada had dismissed their appeal to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) from slaughtering hundreds of ostriches of the farm because of an apparent outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in December 2024.

But they weren’t prepared for what happened next. At least two “marksmen” with the CFIA’s Enforcement Investigation and Services Unit from Saskatoon, SK began firing at the ostriches. The slaughter continued until the early hours of the morning of Friday as the shooters expended over 1,000 rounds into the birds.

RCMP officers removed about 120 farm supporters to an access road, where they stood in pouring rain for hours. Some observers tried to climb a nearby hill to gain a better view of the “death pen” that the CFIA had constructed with bales of hay. But the diminishing light did not allow for much exposure. UOF spokeswoman Katie Pasitney approached the blue metal fence that had separated her from her “babies” since the occupation began on Sept. 22. She crouched on her knees, crying, as she pleaded with the killers to “stop, please stop.”

Although the CFIA claimed that shooting the birds was “humane and appropriate,” some of the ostriches survived the firestorm of bullets and were left to suffer on the ground throughout the night, their cries being heard by the supporters. In the morning, hundreds of dead ostriches were seen on the ground as the CFIA “inspectors” decapitated several of the birds that were squirming on the ground..

Many supporters took to social media to express their horror and disgust, including Kelly Mariek who posted, “They were gunned down in the dark, over hours. I watched the lives from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and had to log off around 9 because I couldn’t take any more — the gunshots, the agonizing sounds of the birds, the screaming. By the time I muted the sound I think the count was around 600 bullets. It was absolutely f******** sickening. The anger I feel is unreal and I will not be silenced. Those responsible — the shooters, CFIA, and the corrupt cops who look the other way — you will pay in hell.”

The cleanup operation proved to be just as hellish and bizarre as the shooting as RCMP officers were enlisted by the CFIA to clean up the “hot zone” by shoveling hay and ostrich debris onto trucks. The officers wore no protective clothing and performed this task with their bare hands, at one point joking that a nearby observer might want to put on a HazMat suit.

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Supporters followed the trucks in order to determine their destination. The CFIA had steadfastly refused the ostriches for any evidence of H1N5 avian flu while they were alive and their stonewalling continued after the death of the birds. Pasitney demanded tissue samples of the birds in order to prove her contention that the birds were healthy and had developed herd immunity.

The destination—at least temporarily—of the carcasses is believed to be a Super Save Group location in Surrey, BC.

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In a statement, the CFIA said the cull was part of “a disease response” at the farm and casually reported that it would “complete depopulation and disposal measures as authorized by the Health of Animals Act and guided by the stamping out policy for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).”

In an interview with Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant, Pasitney expressed outrage over the CFIA’s behavior: “We named them. We loved them. They were murdered a couple nights ago in the middle of the night by cowards, professionals. Why at night? Because they're hiding. They hid. They've been hiding since day one, when they got here, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has never come to the front line,” she said.

“Do you know when they were herding our ostriches into their kill pen? We had roosters dancing. What does that mean? They were twirling and dancing, which means that they were happy. They had no idea what was happening. They had no idea what they were getting pushed in for what that was going to mean.

"They thought, probably, oh, maybe we're going to get actual food because they weren't getting food. Maybe they were going to get water because they were getting starved water from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This has been nothing but displays of the biggest display of animal cruelty, neglect and all of this is punishment,” Pasitney said.

Pasitney told The Post Millennial that she intends to fight for other farms that have been targeted by the CFIA over a “stamping out” policy that is out of step even with the guidelines of the World Health Organization and World Organization for Animal Health.

"What happened at our farm last week was an inhumane atrocity that was guided by politics and not science. It is too late to save the ostriches at our farm. It is not too late to save other farms from the cruelty, maltreatment, abuse and harassment of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which can only do two things with any degree of competency: lying and killing. The CFIA will receive justice for this massacre. They will not be allowed to get away with this criminal activity: as God is my witness,” she told TPM.