B.C. ostriches’ fate in hands of Supreme Court, with cull decision imminent
Global News
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision on whether to hear a B.C. ostrich farm's final appeal to save its flock.
The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision on whether to hear a B.C. ostrich farm’s final appeal to save its flock, more than 10 months after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered a cull amid an avian flu outbreak last December.
Universal Ostrich Farms in the southern Interior community of Edgewood, B.C., has already lost legal challenges in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and the fate of the flock of 300 or so birds now hinges on the high court’s decision.
The Supreme Court of Canada stayed the cull in September while it considered whether to hear the case, and if it decides not to, there would be no legal barrier against the agency carrying out the killings.
The court does not release reasons for dismissing or allowing a case, and legal experts say the odds are stacked against the farm today when considering the rulings from the federal courts earlier this year.
The saga over the flock has seen supporters converge on the property to oppose the possible cull, as well as interventions from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said the birds should be saved because of their scientific value.
The farm’s owners say the CFIA’s policy of destroying flocks after an avian flu detection is flawed, and their ostriches have developed “herd immunity,” while the CFIA says ostriches that appear healthy may still spread the disease.
The CFIA currently has custody of the birds and the farm’s owners have claimed they were forcibly and unlawfully removed from the property by the agency and the RCMP.
The agency says more than 22,000 people have been removed from the country in the last 12 months, and nearly 30,000 removals were "in progress" as of Oct. 31.
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