VERNON — The owners of a British Columbia farm where hundreds of ostriches were killed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last year are suing the government and police, claiming the loss of a business with revenue it projected at $200 million. The lawsuit by Universal Ostrich Farms seeks damages for the loss of what it calls a “dietary supplement and pill product” based on 1,200 ostrich eggs that were seized by the inspection agency. It says the seizure of the eggs was unlawful and irreversibly destroyed the business, which it says was on “the cusp of a commercial market launch.” Landco Ventures, the owner of the property in Edgewood, B.C., which is leased to Universal Ostrich Farms, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed in Vernon against the CFIA, the federal government and the RCMP. It says inspection agency staff and others engaged in and permitted acts of cruelty in dealing with the flock of more than 300 birds and trespassed on the farm, while warrants served against the farm provided “no legal, moral, or statutory right to occupy the property.” The claims in the lawsuit that was filed Oct. 30 have not been tested in court. The lawsuit also says that 351 ostriches were on the farm when the CFIA served its warrants, but compensation was only offered for the destruction of 314, with no explanation about what happened to the “missing” 37 birds. The inspection agency has said the cull by marksmen in November 2025 was conducted after ostriches on the farm tested positive for avian flu about 11 months earlier. The farm’s efforts to prevent the deaths of the birds lasted for months and drew support from protesters who camped on the property, as well as from figures in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.
