Photo credit: Elissa Miller
Hazard lights flashing and Canadian flags in tow, nearly 60 protesters gathered for a slow roll from Martensville to Saskatoon City Hall on Saturday. The convoy was organized by Farmers Protest Canada following the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s decision to cull over 300 ostriches at the Universal Ostrich Farm near Edgewood, B.C. at the beginning of the month.
It was one of fifty rallies being held Canada-wide, with the majority in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Saskatchewan’s other rally was held in Moose Jaw, and small contingents drove from rural towns to gather in larger centres, as well. According to Farmers Protest Canada, the events aim to demand accountability and transparency from the CFIA and federal government.
The farm first gained notoriety in 2021, when the owners partnered with Japanese scientist Dr. Yasuhiro Tsukamoto to produce Covid-19 antibodies using the birds’ immune systems. The hens were inoculated with the dead Covid-19 virus, and in four weeks, the antibodies were evident in the hens’ eggs. According to the owners, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, this process was able to achieve a 99.9 per cent blockage of the coronavirus using the antibodies that were extracted from egg yolks. The owners then began working with a company out of Vancouver to develop a nasal spray that could be administered to anyone with the virus, and the antibodies were even sent to Japan to be used in nasal drops and candies.
However, their dream of neutralizing the effects of Covid-19 didn’t last long.
In late 2024, a cull of the herd was ordered following an outbreak of avian influenza a year earlier. Sixty-nine ostriches died, but the majority survived while also gaining herd immunity. The farmers insisted that no new cases had been recorded since.
Regardless, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal after two lower courts ruled in favor of the CFIA. When the farm owners requested time for additional testing to prove that the birds weren’t infected and ultimately prevent the cull, it was denied by Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal. The cull was completed in a makeshift pen made of hay bales on November 6th and 7th using marksmen, causing even Animal Justice Canada to file a formal complaint with the CFIA. AJC suggested using hoods, sedatives, and then administering a lethal dose.
Mikhea May took the initiative to be Saskatoon’s team lead for the morning of protesting. She says the ostrich story grabbed her attention because of how forceful the government was being.
“I wondered why they weren’t allowed to test their own birds. That really got me,” she explains. She added that, “They culled them inhumanely. It’s one thing to cull them, but the way they did it was very heartbreaking.”
Although the ostriches were the latest victims, anyone affiliated with the movement will tell you it’s less about the loss of the large birds, and more about government corruption and overreach in general.
“The government wants us divided so we don’t go after them,” she stated, suggesting that Canadians should instead unite against such wrongdoings. “No more separation. Let’s just educate each other. Let’s not get down on each other. Let’s just unite.”
