Canada’s Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge against the planned cull of nearly 400 ostriches at a farm in British Columbia, removing the final legal obstacle to the controversial operation. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it intends to carry out a “complete depopulation” of Universal Ostrich Farms near Edgewood after an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu.
The court’s decision on Thursday rejected an interim stay that had temporarily halted the cull earlier in the week. The farm was first ordered to kill its flock in May, with 69 birds already dead from the illness. CFIA officials seized control of the business earlier this week, and the agency has not specified when the cull will begin.
The case has drawn international attention, with US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr lobbying Canadian officials and Dr Mehmet Oz, a Trump appointee, offering to relocate the birds to his Florida ranch. Businessman John Catsimatidis also urged Canada to reverse the order. Protesters have gathered at the farm, many expressing scepticism about the official response and health measures.
Canada’s Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has avoided direct comment, telling reporters the issue had been “mismanaged from the very beginning” but refusing to say the word “ostrich”. The federal government defends the cull as a “stamping out” policy aligned with World Health Organization advice to prevent the spread of the virus to other animals or humans.
Farm owners argue the surviving birds have developed partial immunity and question the testing methods. Spokesperson Katie Pasitney accused the agency of “murdering” healthy birds. A federal court previously ruled that keeping the birds alive risked spreading avian flu to poultry or people. According to a 2016 CFIA manual, ostriches may be killed by lethal injection, gas, or neck-breaking, with shooting only as a last resort.
