Neighbors of a British Columbia ostrich farm have filed a lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, alleging that officials trespassed on their property, harassed them with drones, and caused significant emotional distress during a government-ordered culling operation on the adjacent farm.
Legal Action Over Property Rights Violations
Property owners Trevor Klug, Margaret Greba, and their daughter Alyson Turnbull claim in the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vernon that their rights were completely ignored when police and CFIA officials used their land without permission to set up a kill pen for ostriches. The family asserts they had no connection to the ostrich farm, which was owned by relatives, yet found their property commandeered for the operation from September 22 to November 13.
Allegations of Harassment and Trespassing
According to the legal claim, the RCMP and CFIA were present on the neighboring property around the clock, using it as a storage and transportation area without consent. The lawsuit details disturbing incidents of harassment, including persistent drone surveillance that invaded the family's privacy.
Turnbull described how the drone harassment became so pervasive that she could distinguish whether she was being followed by one, two, or three drones without even looking. She recounted one particularly intrusive incident where a drone hovered outside her window for forty minutes while she attempted to sleep, and another instance where, after she screamed at a drone to stop shining a light on her, the light only intensified.
Emotional Distress and Mockery
The lawsuit alleges that officials not only trespassed but also taunted and ridiculed the family during the operation. Turnbull described how her mother pleaded with officials not to spread hay from the kill pen bales across their fields, only to be met with laughter. The legal claim states this constituted abuse that caused significant mental distress.
Background of the Ostrich Farm Controversy
The legal action stems from a highly publicized dispute between Universal Ostrich Farms and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. After avian flu killed 69 of approximately 300 ostriches on the farm, the CFIA ordered the entire flock destroyed. Despite the farm's unsuccessful legal battle to save the birds, marksmen hired by the agency shot the remaining ostriches in November.
Warrant Dispute
The RCMP maintains they had legal authority to be on the property based on warrants served on the residence. However, Turnbull explained that the warrant was posted on her family's door while they were out of town. The warrants were obtained by the CFIA based on information from Heather June Willis, identified in the claim as a CFIA employee based in Edmonton, who alleged the owners committed various offences including obstructing an inspector.
The lawsuit contends that the warrants for the adjacent ostrich farm improperly included the neighbors' property, creating what the family calls "the illusion without evidence" that their land was part of the ostrich farm operation.
Broader Implications
This case raises significant questions about property rights, government authority during disease control operations, and the psychological impact of law enforcement actions on innocent bystanders. The family's allegations of being treated like prisoners on their own property during the culling operation highlight tensions between public health measures and individual rights.
The lawsuit seeks accountability for what the plaintiffs describe as overreach and harassment during a controversial animal disease control operation that captured national attention through both traditional media and social media platforms.
