B.C. farm says it will ask Supreme Court of Canada to stop the cull of 400 ostriches

By Canadian Press on September 13, 2025.

VICTORIA — A spokesperson for Universal Ostrich Farms says the farm will ask the Supreme Court of Canada to stop the culling of 400 ostriches hit by avian flu, but it is not clear yet whether Canada’s highest court will hear the case.

Katie Pasitney says the farm remains hopeful that it will get another chance to make its case, after Federal Court of Appeal Justice Gerald Heckman ruled Friday the cull of the animals must be allowed to proceed.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had first ordered the slaughter on Dec. 31, 2024, during an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu that killed 69 ostriches.

The farm has been fighting the cull order for months, but lost its case in both Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and now faces what Pasitney has called an “open cull order” following this latest ruling.

Speaking Saturday morning, Pasitney says about 20 people are currently gathered outside the farm in Edgewood, B.C. to await future developments.

Pasitney says the farm plans to file its application to the Supreme Court “immediately,” but Heckman has also said in his ruling that the farm has failed to establish reasonably arguable grounds for further appeal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press