Supreme Court of Canada shares date on decision to hear Ostrich cull case

The Supreme Court of Canada will make a decision next week about whether it will hear a high-profile case out of B.C’s Interior.

The court will announce next Thursday if it will take on the case of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood.

The owners of the farm are fighting the planned cull that was ordered last December by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after the flock was hit by an outbreak of avian flu, which the agency says went on to kill 69 birds.

Tests were conducted on two of the dead birds and came back positive for H5N1 flu, but the farm’s owners have been pushing for the surviving birds to be tested.

The farmers say the remaining ostriches show no signs of illness and should not be killed, while the CFIA says ostriches that appear healthy can still spread the disease, including new mutations of the virus.

The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of the cull order and directed that the CFIA take custody of the birds until it decides whether to hear the case by the farm’s owners, who have lost a series of lower court decisions.

If the court decides not to hear the case and lifts the stay, it means the cull will be allowed to proceed, but if leave to appeal is granted, then a final decision on the fate of the flock would come later after the high court hears the case. 

There has been a surge in avian influenza outbreaks in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley as the fall migration season for many birds takes flight.

A list published by the CFIA shows the virus has been detected in nine commercial poultry flocks in the region over the last two weeks.

Six of the outbreaks are at Chilliwack-area farms and three are in Abbotsford.

The Supreme Court’s decision on the leave application will come at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 6.