The co-owner of a British Columbia farm has been arrested alongside her daughter for refusing to leave their ostriches as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is expected to begin a cull of the animals over an avian flu infection.
RCMP moved into the ostrich enclosure on Tuesday where Katie Pasitney and her mother, Karen Espersen, stayed overnight.
Staff Sgt. Kris Clark would not confirm who was taken into custody, but told reporters that the two people inside the enclosure refused to leave and “were subsequently arrested.”
His comments came after three RCMP vehicles moved to the far side enclosure where the pair had been stationed, opposite to where the farm’s supporters had gathered behind yellow police tape.
Dave Belinski, the other owner of the farm, said he voluntarily left the enclosure before the arrest because he had to remove his truck from inside the pen.
He confirmed to reporters that it was the mother-daughter duo who had been taken into custody.
Belinski, who still had blood crusted on his ears from getting what he referred to as “love bites” from the ostriches earlier that day, said the women knew they would be arrested but wanted to do so close to where the crowd had gathered.
The inspection agency moved in on Monday along with a police escort to prepare for the cull of about 400 ostriches on the farm where avian flu was detected last December. Almost 70 of the animals died in the months afterward, and the owners of the farm fought the agency in Federal Court and over social media to try to keep the ostriches from being destroyed.
Pasitney, whose social media posts and videos have drawn worldwide attention to the ordered cull, posted a video where she was asking if the Mounties would allow the farmers to feed the birds “humanely” and keep them calm without risking arrest. To that, an officer said it wasn’t his call.
Belinski said that about 30 minutes before the arrest Pasitney told him they were being allowed to feed the animals.
“So, they were going out feeding, and they got arrested in the back corner where nobody is,” he said.
He said trust had been broken following the arrest, but added that until he talks to Pasitney and Espersen, he “won’t know the whole story.”
Clark said no charges have yet been laid, but explained that the two were arrested under the Health of Animals Act. He said they were taken to the RCMP command post to be processed before they would be released.
They would be allowed to return home, but would not be allowed back into the ostrich enclosure, Clark said.
He told reporters that the RCMP is on the farm at the request of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to enforce the law, secure the property and ensure the safety of the public and CFIA officers “as they conduct their business.”
Pasitney had posted a video Monday evening showing a CFIA official telling the farmers they would be allowed to stay in the birds’ pen overnight.
However, the unnamed man says the CFIA has control of the property and there would be “consequences” if the farmers did not leave voluntarily.
She made another post around 9 a.m. Tuesday saying there was “a lot of emotion” at the farm, where dozens of officers had gathered.
“We don’t know what today is going to bring,” she told the livestream at the time.
“All we’ve been asking for is the RCMP to stand down. You don’t have to follow through with something just because it’s your job.”
Supporters of the farm remained at the site Tuesday, many of which were filming and yelling at the officers present.
Lawyers for the farmers told the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal that the birds are now healthy and scientifically valuable, while the CFIA has said they were infected with a more lethal strain of the virus.
The agency has said in court documents that its policies do not provide for additional testing.
It said the chances the birds are infected or will become infected is unknown “due to gaps in the available science regarding how long immunity to (avian influenza) viruses may last in an individual ostrich,” as well as a lack of information about how many ostriches were infected during the original outbreak.
It said a source of infection or reinfection with avian influenza can remain in the environment long after individual infected birds have recovered.
The farmers have repeatedly called for testing to determine the birds’ status, and Pasitney told the media Monday that the farmers’ lawyer was filing paperwork in an attempt to have the case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
In one of Pasitney’s final livestreams posted before her arrest, she said transport trucks carrying haybales were on their way to the farm.
“These healthy animals are going to be murdered,” she said, getting increasingly panicked.
“They are going to make corrals of hay bales, and they’re going to dart or shoot our animals to death. If we don’t stop them in the next 24 hours, we’re going to lose everything.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025.
Brenna Owen and Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
