The Supreme Court of Canada will announce next week whether it will hear an appeal regarding the culling of a flock of ostriches at a British Columbia farm. The court is scheduled to rule on a list of leave applications on November 6, which includes a challenge from Universal Ostrich Farms against an order from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This order mandates the culling of the flock following an outbreak of avian flu.

The CFIA issued the cull order on December 31, 2024, after detecting the virus. If the Supreme Court declines to hear the case and lifts the current stay on the cull, the farm could face the immediate killing of hundreds of ostriches. Conversely, if the court grants the appeal, a final decision on the flock's fate would follow a hearing.

Katie Pasitney, a spokesperson for the farm and daughter of one of the owners, expressed her concerns in a Facebook post. "My stomach sank a little bit," she wrote. "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 experts have indicated that the Supreme Court is unlikely to take up the case. Both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal have previously sided with the CFIA, raising doubts about any unresolved legal issues that the Supreme Court could clarify. Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo, stated that the chances of the High Court hearing the appeal are "very low." He noted that a disagreement among lower courts would have made the case more suitable for the Supreme Court's review.

Paul Daly, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, also expressed skepticism about the court's interest in the case. He remarked that the legal issues are "not particularly novel or complicated" and suggested that public outcry on social media would not sway the court's decision.

The owners of Universal Ostrich Farms, located near Edgewood in southeastern B.C., have been contesting the cull for ten months. They argue that the remaining ostriches show no signs of illness and should not be culled. The farm's lawyer, Umar Sheikh, emphasized that the Supreme Court has a high threshold for cases it chooses to hear.

In its submissions to the High Court, the farm argued that the lower courts left open the possibility for reconsideration of administrative decisions based on new evidence or changing circumstances. The farm's application stated, "National guidance is needed to close this systemic gap so that temporary emergency orders do not persist despite fundamentally changed facts."

In response, the CFIA stated that the case does not present issues of "public importance" warranting the Supreme Court's attention. The agency noted that the farm's disagreement with the decision and its disbelief in judicial findings regarding public health risks do not justify the court's intervention.

The CFIA has maintained control over the birds' enclosure since September, asserting that even healthy-looking ostriches could still transmit the disease. Although the cull seemed imminent, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay while it considers whether to hear the farm's appeal.

This report was first published on October 31, 2025.