Canada's top court stays execution of nearly 400 ostriches, for now. Image credit: Universal Ostrich Farms/Facebook
(The Post News) – Supreme Court in Canada has delayed a planned execution of nearly 400 ostriches at a farm in British Columbia over an avian flu outbreak, after the farm owners protested the cull order. The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision will temporarily halt the planned culling of the birds by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) while the owner’s appeal.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement that they have arrested the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms for obstructing food inspection agents from performing their duties. The police said that they granted food inspection agents a warrant to search the farm’s property.
RCMP officers were requested to accompany them, they said, due to increased tensions and protests on the farm. According to the CFIA, it will maintain custody of the birds as ordered by the court and provide appropriate feed and water with veterinary oversight. It also said that search warrants authorising the agency to take control of specific areas of the farm remain in effect and access was limited without their permission.
One of the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, Katie Pastiney on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that she and her mother Karen Espersen were arrested while trying to feed the ostriches. Pastiney and Espersen have vehemently opposed the cull order on the ostriches and had launched a months-long court battle in a bid to stop it.
Following the court’s order, the Mother and daughter embraced in celebration, with Pasitney declaring, “They live today. We have time and there’s some time to figure out what’s the next steps”. Espersen said the news made her feel numb but overjoyed and that she wanted to run and hug the birds.
Ostrich Farmers Ask For Intervention
That battle has attracted international attention, including from US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy, who penned a letter in May to the head of the CFIA asking the agency to study the birds instead. Dr Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, offered to re-home the birds on his Florida ranch, Pastiney told CBC News in May, however the farm rejected the offer.
She had previously urged US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who has Canadian citizenship, to intervene. The CFIA ordered that the birds be culled in December after an avian flu outbreak on the farm killed 69 ostriches.
CFIA said allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to avian influenza to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist. It said it would increase the possibility of reassortment or mutation, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife. This could also increase the human health risk.
In a video posted by Pastiney on Facebook, it shows CFIA officials building enclosures on the farm using hay bales, which she said were being used to chase their ostriches into square corrals.
Local media reported that part of the hay-bale wall caught fire early on Wednesday morning, and firefighters were seen hosing down the flames. It is unclear what caused the fire. Protestors have been gathered at the farm since Monday, following the arrival of the RCMP and CFIA officials.
The Supreme Court’s intervention comes after a Federal Court of Appeal judge ruled on 12 September that the cull can go ahead. In his ruling Judge Gerald Heckman said that the farm has failed to establish any serious or arguable issue for why its case should be heard by the highest court.
Supreme Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin on Wednesday ordered the CFIA to maintain custody of the birds and the farm must not interfere while it decides on whether to hear the case.
Justice O’Bonsawin ordered that the federal inspection agency must respond to the appeal by 3 October 2025.
About the Author
