The Federal Court of Appeal has granted a stay pausing the cull of around 400 ostriches at a family-run farm in British Columbia.The move comes weeks after a court sided with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, giving the green light for agents to begin slaughtering the birds..In a video posted to Facebook, Universal Ostrich Farm co-owner Karen Esperson's daughter and spokesperson Katie Pasitney shared the news, calling it "a good day for the ostriches.""We are stronger together," she wrote in an accompanying post, "and as we go through the next phase of this battle this is where we get our second wind and come back together, stronger than ever to push forward for the change we all deserve."The order will prevent the birds from being killed for another month until the appeal hearing takes place in Ottawa..The saga began in December 2024, when an avian flu outbreak was declared at the farm. Co-owner Karen Espersen said she believed the disease was brought to their property by a flock of migrating ducks, who took shelter in the barn.Initially, the farm saw as many as four ostriches dying per day, but eventually the deaths petered out. Pasitney said this was evidence that the birds had acquired herd immunity.Nonetheless, when the CFIA got wind of the outbreak in December, they sent a team out to investigate, and after testing two carcasses, determined that the entire herd had to be culled. This was incomprehensible to the owners and their families, who had developed strong relationships with each individual bird.
