The Federal Court of Appeal has granted a stay on the cull order of nearly 400 ostriches at Edgewood's Universal Ostrich Farms.
The farm had been ordered to cull the entire flock of birds by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) after it declared an avian influenza outbreak at the property late last year, but court records show the farm's appeal to pause the cull was granted Friday afternoon.
Katie Pasitney, spokesperson and co-owner of the farm with her mother, gave thanks on social media to people who have supported their ostriches and opposed the CFIA order. She said because of the appeal court's emergency stay order, the birds will be safe for another month while materials are filed to the court ahead of the appeal hearing in Ottawa.
"This is a big win," Pasitney said in a video post.
"This is our time and this is the change we're going to make, and this is what we are fighting for," she said in another post.
The farm has been fighting the cull order ever since it was made on January 10 following a Dec. 31, 2024 declaration of avian flu. The farm challenged the decision in federal court in April and was denied on May 13 with Justice Rochard Zinn upholding the CFIA's decision. But the farm filed an appeal on May 26, and the matter is back in the courts.
The CFIA has maintained that the farm has not substantiated its claims that the birds are subjects of scientific research, saying it "has not received any evidence of scientific research being done at the infected premises."
Late last month, the CFIA said it issued two violation notices totalling $20,000 which it said were levied against the farm because it had not complied with the Health of Animals Act, including failure to report initial cases of avian flu and deaths to the CFIA, and failure to adhere to quarantine orders.
The cull is part of the CFIA's "stamping-out" response to highly pathogenic avian flu, which it says is an internationally recognized standard approach.
Universal Ostrich Farms has said it is asking for due process and science-based decision-making.
“We are not opposed to public health measures — but we are deeply concerned that the current approach lacks transparency, scientific rigor, and compassion,” Pasitney said earlier this month.
