Supreme Court of Canada to Decide on Ostrich Farm Appeal
The Supreme Court of Canada will announce on November 6 whether it will hear an appeal by Universal Ostrich Farms, challenging an order from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to cull its flock following an avian flu outbreak in British Columbia.
The CFIA issued the cull order on December 31, 2024. The farm sought to overturn this directive after both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the agency. If the Supreme Court declines to hear the case, the current stay will be lifted, allowing the immediate culling of hundreds of ostriches. Should the court grant leave to appeal, the flock’s ultimate fate will depend on the outcome of future hearings.
Farm spokesperson Katie Pasitney, daughter of one of the owners, described her emotional reaction in a Facebook post on Friday.
"My stomach sank a little bit. The world needs to pray for us. I walk in faith as my feet hit the ground each day. This story has already been written. The ending has been decided; we just need to believe."
Legal scholars remain skeptical about the appeal's prospects. They note that the Supreme Court rarely intervenes when lower courts have reached consistent conclusions in regulatory disputes of this kind. Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo, commented in October that the odds of the court hearing the appeal are "very low."
Author’s Summary
The Supreme Court is preparing to decide whether to consider an appeal by a B.C. ostrich farm fighting a CFIA order to cull its flock after an avian flu outbreak.