Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal has granted an interim stay that spares, for now, the lives of 400 ostriches in B.C. that faced being destroyed because of avian influenza.

Universal Ostrich Farms, located in the B.C. Interior community of Edgewood, has been attempting to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from destroying the birds since the cull was ordered amid an avian flu outbreak in December 2024 that killed 69 ostriches.

In a letter filed in the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday , a lawyer for the ostrich farm said the CFIA was “imminently” mobilizing to enforce the cull order.

In a decision dated Saturday, the Federal Court of Appeal granted an interim stay until the stay motion “is decided on the basis of a full record.”

The decision says a notice to cull the birds is

See Full Page