The Supreme Courtroom of Canada has dismissed an utility from a B.C. ostrich farm to listen to an attraction to save lots of its flock.
The court docket unanimously dismissed the applicant’s movement for brand spanking new proof and dismissed the farm proprietor’s attraction, discovering that the Stamping-Out Coverage, the Discover to Dispose and the Exemption Denial had been all cheap in accordance with the relevant case legislation.
“The Canadian Meals Inspection Company (CFIA) can be shifting ahead to finish depopulation and disposal measures as approved by the Well being of Animals Act and guided by the stamping out coverage for extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI),” the CFIA mentioned in a press release on Thursday morning.
The Common Ostrich Farm, in Edgewood, B.C., challenged the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) order to cull the flock after an outbreak of avian flu was detected final Dec. 31.
In an replace posted to Fb on Thursday morning, the daughter of the farm’s co-owner, Katie Pasitney, mentioned, “That is what ache seems to be like, Canada,” holding again tears.
“She’s going to lose all the things she’s ever beloved for 35 years,” Pasitney added, referring to her mom, the farm’s co-owner, who might be seen crying within the background.
“That’s what ache seems to be like when the federal government fails you.”
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The CFIA mentioned the farm homeowners did not report the preliminary circumstances of sickness and deaths when the herd was contaminated.
The CFIA has mentioned the applying of the avian flu stamping out coverage for this farm has been upheld by the Federal Courtroom of Canada and the Federal Courtroom of Enchantment, and is supported by scientific proof.
The problem has been a contentious one on either side, with the destiny of the birds garnering worldwide consideration.
U.S. billionaire John Catsimatidis personally financed the farm’s authorized protection and drew the eye of U.S. officers after studying of the case earlier this 12 months.
The CFIA has confronted rising pushback from the farm and its supporters because the case made its means by way of the courts.
The primary determination, a Discover to Dispose, was issued on Dec. 31, 2024, and required the farm homeowners to get rid of all of the ostriches on its farm by Feb.1, 2025, after laboratory testing confirmed an infection of two lifeless ostriches with the H5N1 pressure of extremely pathogenic avian influenza
The second determination, an Exemption Denial dated Jan. 10, 2025, denied the farm proprietor’s request to exempt a minimum of a few of its ostrich flock from destruction.
“The 2 choices had been made below s. 48 of the Well being of Animals Act, S.C. 1990, c. 21, and in accordance with the CFIA’s Stamping-Out Coverage, which is operationalized by way of the CFIA’s Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza 2022 Occasion Response Plan,” the Supreme Courtroom of Canada mentioned in a press release.
After 69 birds died of avian flu, the farm’s homeowners argued the surviving ostriches have “herd immunity” and needed them examined.
The Federal Courtroom of Canada stayed the Discover to Dispose, pending dedication of the judicial evaluation utility within the Federal Courtroom, after which a single choose of the Federal Courtroom of Enchantment stayed the choice pending disposition of the farm proprietor’s attraction earlier than the Federal Courtroom of Enchantment.
“The Federal Courtroom of Enchantment unanimously dismissed the applicant’s movement for brand spanking new proof and dismissed the applicant’s attraction, discovering that the Stamping-Out Coverage, the Discover to Dispose and the Exemption Denial had been all cheap in accordance with the relevant case legislation,” the Supreme Courtroom of Canada mentioned.
The stamping-out coverage is a measure applied by the World Group for Animal Well being. It mandates that each one animals in a flock are killed, even when avian flu is current in a single fowl.
-with recordsdata from The Canadian Press
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