A woman whose family’s nearly 400 ostriches are marked for death by the Canadian government has appealed across the border for help from President Donald Trump.
“Mr. Trump — President Trump — this is a cry-out, a plea, from Canada: please stop the slaughter of almost 400 healthy ostriches that are going to suffer today or tomorrow,” a tearful Katie Pasitney of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, pleaded.
“We need a miracle.”
Canadian government officials, she said, “are claiming that these animals… have a virus, and that they’re sick, but instead, these ostriches hold the key to humanity.”
Pasitney said the birds’ antibodies “can help with therapeutics and new, innovative science that can actually make us less reliant on vaccinations and pills.”
Pasitney is the daughter of Karen Espersen, who has spent more than 34 years raising ostriches with Universal co-owner Dave Bilinski.
As related on the Universal Ostrich Farms website, one of the giant birds became ill last December. That ostrich recovered, but the illness spread to some of the other birds. Within 36 days, 69 of the 468 ostriches died.
The others recovered and have been healthy since then, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency contacted them, saying an anonymous tipster had reported there was avian flu at their farm.
Despite the fact that the birds are not being raised for food, the agency came to the farm, tested two dead ostriches, and announced the carcasses had tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza. They issued a cull order for the rest of the birds.
The farmers asked for additional, more extensive testing, but were denied.
“Espersen and Bilinski were also informed that they were prohibited from testing or treating their animals, including independent evaluations from their vet, under the threat of a $200,000 fine and six months in jail,” they said on their website.
A judge granted a stay of the cull order in January.
Bureaucratic red tape and legal wrangling ensued, which has dragged on for nine months.
The CFIA imposed extensive — and pricey — quarantine measures, “including separating the males and females to prevent breeding, covering frozen ponds with netting, and requiring additional barns and double fencing.”
“It feels like we’re being set up for failure,” Pasitney said on the farm’s website.
The ostriches’ plight has drawn concern and donations from far and wide. Hundreds have donated to their GiveSendGo and GoFundMe campaigns.
Dozens showed up last week when the cull was once again slated to go forward, but the Canadian Supreme Court intervened with a temporary stay.
Canadian officials have argued that the cull order is justified in light of the World Organization for Animal Health policy, “which requires all animals in a flock to be killed, even if H5N1 is detected in just one bird,” the CBC reported. That policy has resulted in millions of birds being culled across Canada in 2025 alone.
Failure to comply, officials have said, could jeopardize the nation’s commercial trade of animal products.
The farmers pointed out that the birds have proven they are healthy, as none of them has died or even shown a sign of illness all year. There’s no reason to slaughter them all.
“All of our animals have names,” Pasitney said in her video appeal to Trump. “Our oldest is 35.”
A direct call to @realDonaldTrump from Katie at Universal Ostrich Farm.@RobertKennedyJr offered TWICE to take these birds to study them.
The Canadian government refused, and instead seems intent on not only slaughtering the birds, but torturing them before they slaughter them.… pic.twitter.com/ZMJkzGUb9s
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) September 29, 2025
Pasitney said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and other government officials have ignored their appeals.
So she took to social media with her video plea to Trump.
“Nobody will listen,” she said in Monday’s video. “All of our politicians have just turned a blind eye.
“Please help us, President Trump,” she concluded. “Please help us in Canada. The world needs you right now. We need leadership. We admire your leadership, and we are calling on you.”
“Please, please help us.”
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