Tears on ostrich farm after court rejects appeal bid and CFIA says cull will proceed

EDGEWOOD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — The highway overlooking Universal Ostrich Farms was lined with its supporters on Thursday, some hugging and crying, some jeering at Canadian Food Inspection Agency workers in white biohazard suits in the field below.

“CFIA you can stop!” yelled Katie Pasitney, whose mother, Karen Espersen, co-owns the farm near the tiny community of Edgewood in southeastern B.C. “Run, pretty birds!”

Supporter Jeff Gaudry shouted to the workers through a loudspeaker: “You should be ashamed of yourself. You should go in there and let them cull you.”

The CFIA staff, walking and driving a pickup truck around the ostriches’ enclosure, were working to prepare for what the agency said would be the “complete depopulation and disposal” of the flock of hundreds of birds, hours