The owners of an ostrich farm whose flock is subject to a cull order must leave today or face removal by police, who were called in to help support the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 

RCMP and CFIA officials arrived on the farm Monday and served a warrant on the farm in southeastern British Columbia, where the owners have been fighting the cull order prompted by an outbreak of avian influenza that killed 69 ostriches.

Katie Pasitney, whose mother is a co-owner of Universal Ostrich Farms, posted a video to her Facebook page 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 overnight or on Tuesday.

Pasitney again posted to Facebook 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. 

"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."

There was a moment of lull in activity at the farm Tuesday morning before RCMP officers used wire cutters to open the gate so Dave Belinski, who also co-owns the farm, could leave the enclosure. He did so voluntarily just before 11 a.m.

Speaking to reporters from his vehicle, Belinski said he had to move his truck, saying "the only way (was) if I come out peacefully."

"It's a very tough day. It's tragic," he said.

When asked what his message to the public would be, he simply said "wake up," before he covered his face and appeared to be crying. 

Pasitney and her mother remain inside the ostrich enclosure, where she attempted to ask the Mounties if they 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. 

Supporters of the farm at the site Monday were yelling at the officers present, with one witness saying there were some “face-to-face confrontations" along with yelling at police to “have a heart” and telling them that “the world is watching."

Rod Giffen lives near the farm and counts himself among its supporters.

He said it’s not right to kill the birds without allowing for testing to determine whether they still carry the virus.

Giffen said Monday he would recommend a visit to the ostrich farm to anyone coming to the area.

“They’re so cool, right?" he said. "What they do, the noises they make, the dances they do and everything. Yeah, they’re pretty interesting animals.”

The farmers have brought their fight to save about 400 surviving ostriches to multiple levels of court, arguing they are now healthy and scientifically valuable, while the CFIA has said they were infected with a more lethal strain of the virus.

The federal 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.

– Brenna Owen and Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press