• December 14, 2025
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Two arrested in BC protecting ostriches from cull

Two people have been arrested at an ostrich farm where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is expected to begin culling ostriches after some of the flock was infected with avian flu.

RCMP moved into an enclosure at Universal Ostrich Farms where Katie Pasitney and her mother, farm co-owner Karen Esperson, had been camped out overnight. RCMP wouldn’t confirm who was taken into custody but did say the two people inside the enclosure were arrested. 

The fight between the farm and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency dates back to an outbreak of avian flu in December that would go on to kill 69 ostriches.  The CFIA says Universal’s 400 ostriches must be killed in compliance with international guidelines. But the farm says their birds have developed herd immunity and should be spared.

Before RCMP moved in…Katie Pasitney, told reporters their lawyer was filing paperwork in an attempt to have their case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

This story has garnered international attention from as far away as the White House. Among those interested are U-S Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who have urged the Canadian government to allow the ostriches to live. Dr. Oz has even offered them sanctuary at his properties in the United States. 

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Jeannette Rocher

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in Minnesota and Manitoba, Jeannette has had the opportunity to live in a variety of places including New York, Arizona, and Nevada. After completing college and a paid internship with CBC Winnipeg, Jeannette embarked on her journalism career by moving overseas to take a job on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. While overseas she covered stories in Fiji, Guam and Japan including the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan and its surrounding islands. She covered a mass shooting, an Earth quake, murder cases and other substantial court cases. In 2013 she moved to Alberta where she covered the devastating floods of High River and Medicine Hat for CTV News. She then went on to produce and host Go! Southern Alberta for Shaw TV. She now calls Miracle Channel home. In addition to reporting in the field, you can catch her anchoring daily weather reports, as well as longer interview segments on BCN, and the week-in-review show on BCN Weekends. 

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