The Fight for Accountability One Year After the Ostrich Culling

0:00 Speaker 1 Let’s go to British Columbia for an update. What happened? All those poor ostriches died, but we have with us Katie Persitney, and she is still distraught over the death of all her animals. And Katie Persitney, it was very sad what happened. Can you give us an update? What the heck is going on?

0:24 Speaker 2 Yeah, for sure, John. Thanks for having me back on. This week is actually marking the one year since the devastating destruction on our farm here in British Columbia. And it wasn’t just our country here that watched that, but it was everybody around the world that watched the most inhumane gunning down of our animals in the dark in

0:44 the pouring rain. My mom and I have taken another important step, though, toward accountability, and that is through we have just filed a civil lawsuit. And that lawsuit is against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and RCMP. And that lawsuit, which is important to us in Canada, but also around the world, is it’s raising serious questions about government authority,

1:13 animal welfare, property rights, and how the farmers are being treated. And so we’re just really, really happy that we are able to make it this far and show that we’re not going to back down because our problem is something catastrophic, but disease prevention and animal welfare should never be treated as opposing goals. And I think, as you know, from

1:40 last election, there couldn’t be a more pivotal time in history where these are nonpartisan issues that have become very important that are going to to be about, you know, it’s bigger than Canada and the United States. It’s about the kind of future that we’re going to leave our children and our grandchildren.

2:00 Speaker 1 Well, let me tell you, I know you were very distraught. You lost some beautiful animals there. Some of them, I would consider some of them even being your pets. And I couldn’t understand why. And I wrote a statement because I couldn’t understand why they would not allow the United States people, the FDA, to check the ostriches just to

2:29 get everybody calmed down that either there’s something wrong with them or there’s nothing wrong with them. And I just didn’t understand why they wouldn’t allow that to happen.

2:41 Speaker 2 You’re so right, John. It came down to one question. Why can’t we test them? And, you know, we worked heavily, very closely with the FDA and NIH during COVID. We’ve relied on that partnership. And then for some reason, at the time of the ostriches and where we had a breakthrough and opportunity that could have been pivotal in mitigating

3:06 viral threats in the future, Canada went silent on that opportunity to work with the FDA and NIH again. And this is a really important time. Again, I just say in history that we need to start working together. Unity is going to become the focus, I think, in 2027.

3:24 I think people all around the world want to see a stronger, a better future for, like I said, our children and grandchildren. We are still working on an ostrich legacy project. My mom and I are very, very proud of.

3:39 We’re working to advance the research in the antibodies that are being derived from ostrich eggs. We have lots of antibodies that have been stored. And we do see the potential in applications for diagnostics, infectious disease research, future health technologies.

3:56 And our vision is to really turn our unimaginable loss into a legacy of discovery that will benefit the future of all of our generations across the world.

4:05 Speaker 1 Well, you know, I understand that. And the fact that maybe we can use the tragedy that happened to benefit mankind in the future. And then, not that I’ll ever be happy about what happened, but at least we know it will benefit mankind.

4:27 Speaker 2 Absolutely. And we do. We do have a premiere that came out with Rebel News, and we’re really proud to say that if you go to Rebel News, you can see the documentary online right now. That takes you all through the science, takes you through the truth, and it is simply about what happened to our animals. But it’s a question every farmer, researcher, and

4:53 citizen should be asking. So you can go to Rebel News to watch that documentary, and then soon it will be released to everybody at some point here for no charge. And honestly, John, I have to say to you and people from all across the United States, thank you. Thank you for standing alongside us. And you yourself have shown

5:14 us that compassion and strong business leadership can go hand in hand. And your messaging and your compassion have had a rippling effect across our country. So I want to thank you and the Trump administration, the NIHR, FDA, Dr. Oz, RFK.

5:32 Thank you for seeing the opportunity before it was lost. But thank you for carrying our message forward as we still continue to fight.

5:40 Speaker 1 Well, Katie Persitney. British Columbia, Canada, the Canadian people and the United States people are one people. We’re both part of America. Thank you so much. Thanks, John.