RCMP says B.C. ostrich farm investigations continue, charges neither laid nor stayed

RCMP say investigations are ongoing in relation to their enforcement operation at a British Columbia farm where avian influenza prompted the cull of hundreds of ostriches, with charges neither laid nor stayed after several arrests.

Katie Pasitney, whose mother Karen Espersen is the co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, had posted a video to her Facebook profile on Monday saying charges against the pair stemming from their arrests in September had been “dropped.”

In the video, she says they no longer had a scheduled court appearance this week.

But RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark says in an email that an original court appearance has been “allowed to lapse,” and “new court-compelling documents” would be issued at a later date.

He says no charges have been laid or stayed in relation to the situation on the farm in southeastern B.C., where more than 300 ostriches were shot dead this month in a cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last New Year’s Eve.

The farmers had fought in court for nearly 11 months to save the ostriches, but they lost when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled it would not hear the case.

The cull went ahead the night of Nov. 6 using what the CFIA described as professional marksmen to shoot the flock.

Pasitney and Espersen were arrested and later released in September for violating the Health of Animals Act by allegedly obstructing CFIA officials after the agency moved onto the property and took control of the ostriches’ enclosure.

The pair had been refusing to leave the enclosure when they were arrested and they were allowed to return home on the condition they did not re-enter the pen.

In her Facebook video, Pasitney says their “armour is back on” and the farm family is “ready to take on this next portion of the fight for all Canadians and see ultimate change” to the CFIA’s approach to managing avian influenza outbreaks.

She says the family is “still struggling” in the aftermath of the shooting cull.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2025.