The Regional District of Central Kootenay board voted on May 15 to not accept ostrich carcasses from a farm in Edgewood at any of its landfill sites until the birds are re-tested for the avian flu.
The motion requires the RDCK to reject the carcasses "until the number of birds confirmed infected with highly pathenogenic avian influenza and the number classified as exposed, based on testing performed after May 15, 2025, is confirmed from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and/or Ministry of Agriculture and Food."
The motion goes to request that "the CFIA provide this information directly to the public, in a timely and transparent manner, to support public understanding and trust."
The CFIA recently ordered that nearly 400 ostriches on the Universal Ostrich farm must be killed, based on testing done on the birds for avian influenza in December.
The farm's owner, Katie Pasitney, in an emotional appeal to the RDCK board, explained that her birds are now healthy and that new testing needs to be done.
Many members of the public attended the meeting asking the board to put an end to the cull. RDCK vice-chair Aidan McLaren-Caux, who presided at the meeting, told them that the RDCK has no power to do that because the CFIA is an agency of the federal government.
But the RDCK is responsible for waste and has jurisdiction over the local landfill, he said.
