Businessman John Catsimatidis attends the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ted Shaffrey

A New York billionaire who is an avid supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump says he is helping fund the legal battle by a British Columbia ostrich farm against an order to cull their flock of about 400 birds after an avian flu outbreak.

John Catsimatidis said he and a friend had contributed about US$35,000 to the legal fight by Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood in B.C.'s Interior, to stop the cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The 76-year-old whose $4.5 billion dollar net worth includes an oil refinery and a chain of New York grocery stores, took credit in an interview Tuesday for putting the ostrich farm in the international spotlight, by raising it with Trump administration officials.

He said if the roles were reversed, he would be OK with a wealthy Canadian attempting to exert influence on U.S. policy.

"I think the Canadian people and the people of the United States are one people. We depend on each other. We've always depended on each other, and we have to help each other, because we're in the same boat," he said.

Catsimatidis said he heard about the farm when the co-owner's daughter, Katie Pasitney, called the New York radio station that he owns.

"Over a few-week period, the more I heard about (the farm), the more interested I got. And I told my friend Secretary Kennedy, and I told my friend Dr. Oz, and they both agreed with me," he said.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and fellow U.S. health official Dr. Mehmet Oz, have both pushed for the birds to be saved.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the cull in December during an outbreak of H5N1 flu that went on to kill 69 ostriches at the farm that month and in January.

While the farm's supporters argue the surviving birds are no longer a threat and can be used for research, the agency has maintained that the cull is necessary because exposed flocks create an opportunity for the virus to mutate.

"Even when ostriches appear healthy, they can still spread disease. Scientific research has demonstrated that ostriches are known to spontaneously develop mutations making the virus more infectious to mammalian species. Sustained and repeated infections in these birds increase the opportunity for this mutation to occur," the agency says in a post on its website.

The agency says that while antibody production is an important area of scientific research, it "has not received any evidence of it being done" at the farm.

Catsimatidis, whom Trump has called a longtime friend, said the president was also aware of the case, which Kennedy had raised with him.

He called the ostriches iconic, ancient animals that deserve to live.

Catsimatidis is best known as the owner of New York City supermarket chain Gristedes and hosts a weekly show on WABC, a radio station he purchased in 2020.

On Monday, he hosted a news conference with Pasitney and Oz, where he spoke of his financial contributions to the legal expenses of the farm owners, whose lawyer wants to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada after the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the cull order last week.

"I think these animals deserve to live. And if they're killed, we're not going to end it there. There's going to be massive investigations on why the rush to kill these animals," said Catsimatidis, whose daughter, Andrea Catsimatidis, is chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican party.

Oz, a former TV personality and surgeon who is now the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has said the birds should be spared because they could harbour secrets about avian flu, and has offered to have the birds live on his Florida ranch.

Kennedy has sent letters to Canadian officials pushing for the birds to be studied.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025