The Supreme Court of Canada announced that it will not hear a final appeal in a case seeking to save hundreds of ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia. The decision ends a nearly year-long legal battle, and with it, any final hope that the courts would step in to protect the surviving birds. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed all of the birds have been shot dead.
A Lengthy Legal Battle
The case began in December 2024, when ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms developed flu-like symptoms that killed several dozen birds. After receiving an anonymous report of the deaths, the CFIA imposed a quarantine and soon confirmed H5N1 avian influenza in two deceased ostriches. Within hours, the agency had ordered all the birds to be killed.
Note: Under the federal Health of Animals Act, farmers are legally obligated to report suspected cases of avian flu in their flock to the CFIA.
The farm sought an exemption, arguing the surviving ostriches had valuable genetics and had recovered, but this request was denied. By mid-January, the last affected ostrich had died, bringing the toll to 69.
Over the next ten months, the farmers fought to save the remaining flock through a series of court challenges. The Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal both upheld the CFIA’s authority under the Health of Animals Act to proceed with the ostrich cull, though multiple stays significantly delayed it.
In September, CFIA officials, accompanied by RCMP, arrived at the farm to prepare for the mass-killing, arresting the farm’s owners when they refused to leave the birds’ pen.
CFIA Shooting Ostriches as Cull Gets Underway
The Canadian Press shared a video where gunshots were heard overnight at the ostrich farm, following the Supreme Court decision.
Following the September arrests, the Supreme Court granted a brief interim stay, but ultimately declined to hear the farms’ final appeal on November 6. This allows the CFIA to move forward with what it calls the “complete depopulation” of the flock. The agency cited laboratory findings suggesting the virus detected in the flock is of higher pathogenicity—a combination of a pathogen’s ability to infect a host and the severity of the illness it causes—though no independent testing has been conducted since the original outbreak in 2024.
Animal Justice has repeatedly called on the CFIA to allow new, independent testing of the surviving ostriches to determine whether any ongoing health risk exists. Killing hundreds of apparently healthy birds almost a year after an outbreak was first detected is an unjustified act of cruelty.
This ruling was not unexpected. The CFIA has broad discretion under the Health of Animals Act to order the killing of animals exposed to disease, and courts rarely interfere with that discretion.
Exposed: Disturbing Mass-Killing Practices of CFIA
In 2023, Animal Justice obtained and released thousands of pages of government documents through access-to-information requests, revealing how the CFIA managed its response to bird flu outbreaks in 2022. These records revealed that millions of birds suffered and died under botched mass-killing operations led by third-party contractors.
CFIA manuals obtained through those requests show agency-permitted killing methods include gassing, shooting, and neck-breaking. Lethal injection is also described as an option, involving three people, “one to hold the bird by sitting on its back, one to hold the head, and one to inject the drug.”
There is no doubt that the birds faced a horrifying death at the hands of the CFIA.
A Call for Compassion and Science
While the CFIA has the legal authority to proceed with this mass-killing, Animal Justice urged the agency to back away, and act with compassion and transparency. The lives of these individuals must be carefully considered, and any action should be guided by up-to-date science.
Avian influenza is now considered endemic in wild bird populations, meaning that mass culls are unlikely to stop the virus’s spread. Much like in humans, influenza in ostriches typically runs its course within days, raising serious questions about the necessity of killing birds who likely no longer carry the disease.
Infectious disease experts have similarly questioned whether this large-scale killing is justified. They note that updated, independent testing could show the ostriches no longer pose a risk.
Beyond Universal Ostrich Farms
The public outcry over the fate of these ostriches has been striking, reflecting a growing awareness of how animals are treated in Canada’s food and farming systems. However, this tragedy is not an isolated event—it shines a light on a broader reality that millions of animals endure every day. In Canada, farmed animals live and die in conditions designed for efficiency and profit, not compassion or welfare.
Unlike most other developed nations, Canada has no federal laws, and few provincial regulations governing how animals are treated on farms. There are no proactive government inspections, and instead of binding legal protections, the farming industry is largely allowed to write its own voluntary, unenforceable “standards”. The result is a system where animal suffering is normalized and largely hidden from public view.
Just as these ostriches are individuals whose lives have inherent worth, so too are the cows, pigs, chickens, and fishes trapped in the same system. Each are beings who think, feel, and experience pain. Their lives are no less deserving of compassion and protection.
