A BC Ostrich farm says that it is devastated by a federal court ruling on Tuesday that defends the order to kill the flock of almost 400 birds due to the detection of avian flu, and hopes to continue fighting the case in court.
The order to kill the birds has attracted the attention of hundreds of followers, who have made monetary donations to the legal fund of the farm and have celebrated demonstrations in favor of saving the ostriches. The owners of Universal Ostrich, in Edgewood in the southeast of BC, argue that the birds that have survived the outbreak are happy and healthy and could provide a valuable vision to combat the disease.
Although the judge of the Federal Court Russel Zinn wrote that he has “considerable sympathy” by farmers, he also discovered that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ordered the sacrifice after following the appropriate procedure and its mandate to try to stop the propagation of the deadly bird virus.
“Personal losses must be weighed against the broader public interest in protecting public health and maintaining commercial stability,” Zinn wrote in his ruling.
“Aviar influenza is a virus capable of causing serious damage to both animals and humans, with significant implications for the poultry companies of Canada and the international commercial state. To combat threats such as this virus, Parliament has authorized the CFIA to act decisively, making rapid decisions with high -reach consequences, often under the conditions of scientific uncertainty.”
In a publication on its Facebook page, save our ostriches, the farm says it is “absolutely devastated” for the ruling, which includes an order to pay $ 15,000 to cover the legal costs of the CFIA.
“We are disconsolate by this result and uncertain about the future of our farm,” says the publication.
Katie Pasitney, whose mother is co -owner of the farm, says they plan “legally fight for what we can get.”
She told the Canadian press that they are inviting followers to come to the farm and show “kindness, tranquility and love” in protest for sacrifice, and added that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had the “complete authority … to enter when they wish.”
Pasitney said the agency had not given any indication of when the sacrifice could begin.
“They will not turn it into a public issue because they don’t want everyone to know. We have thousands of people behind us,” he said.
CBC News has communicated with the CFIA.
More than 8.7 million birds have been selected in BC in hundreds of farms, most commercial, from the first outbreak in a highly contagious way of the avian flu in the spring of 2022.
‘Seal’ policy in the heart of dispute
The sacrifice was ordered for the first time on December 31, 2024, after the avian flu was detected in several birds in the universal ostrich.
But the farm managed to avoid that through a court order that allowed both parties to present their case before a federal judge in April.
Universal Ostrich’s lawyer argued in that case that the CFIA failed in his mandate to completely investigate the case and did not follow his own policy around the possible exemptions to a sacrifice order, claiming that the ostrurts should not be treated in the same way as the birds of Corral.
The legal advisor of the farm argued that the “selection” policy of the CFIA, which results in the murder and elimination of all domestic birds at the site where the avian flu is present, to have been ineffective to stop the propagation of the avian flu, and now unnecessary now that it has been detected throughout the province and because the ostriles in themselves do not have flights.
But the CFIA lawyer said that sacrifices control the spread of diseases and limit the possibility that they can mutate in ways that are more easily transmitted to mammals, including humans.
Zinn ruled on Tuesday that the agency’s decisions were reasonable and fair, and the judge said that “the courts generally remain out of scientific debates.”
“The courts must also respect the scientific and technical experience demonstrated by administrative agencies,” says the sentence. “When the Parliament leaves technical or scientific evaluations to specialized administrative bodies, he points out that these agencies, not the courts, are better positioned to issue judgments on complex and promoted issues by experience.”
Zinn also said that the elimination notice and the denial of the exemption of the farm occurred in December 2024 and January 2025, and the court cannot consider evidence that it was not available when those decisions were made.
He said the court “would be criticizing decision makers for lacking a glass ball.”
“This court cannot consider the ‘new’ evidence, such as the current state of health of ostrurts, the recent results of the updated scientific tests or developments,” says the ruling in reference to the statements that ostriches are now free of diseases.
Biosafety concerns
He also discovered that Universal Ostrich had “many problems” with biosecurity, with the farm with outdoor enclosures, very close to wildlife, including a large pond routinely visited by wild ducks. The reports also showed that the appropriate quarantine requirements had not always followed on the farm when the ostriches became ill, with infected and dead birds very close to the healthy ones, and “unauthorized individuals who walk within the infected area.”
While Zinn said that there is a “real and negative impact” on the farm due to the order of sacrifice, including economic loss and emotional anguish, he also discovered that the pattern of pattern is reasonable, given the objectives of the CFIA of stopping the propagation and the mutation of the disease.
“I conclude that the CFIA has fulfilled the high level of duty of equity that owes the applicant [Universal Ostrich]”The failure is read.
The court ruling indicates that the “agency’s mandate is protector instead of punitive”, and provides compensation to owners whose animals are destroyed, up to $ 3,000 per animal in the case of ostriches.
Independent for Peace River North Jordan KELLALWho supported the attempt to stop the sacrifice, said it was “devastated” by the decision, and added that the farm was “completely different” from a farm of typical corral birds that could be quick to resort quickly.
“Honestly, I think there could be an alternative to this scenario instead of sacrificing and killing all birds, because they are 30 -year -old animals that are not only easily replaced,” he said.
BC Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham He said in a statement that, although government thoughts were with the owners of universal ostriches farms for a difficult time, “we respect the decision of the courts, as well as the jurisdiction of the CFIA“
