Canada's Supreme Court won't hear appeal of ostrich cull order

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday it will not hear an appeal regarding a federal agency’s mandate to cull hundreds of ostriches at a British Columbia farm.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued the cull order last Dec. 31 following detection of a bird flu outbreak.

Owners of the farm in the southern interior community of Edgewood, British Columbia have been fighting the order in the courts, arguing the surviving ostriches show no signs of illness and should be spared.

The food inspection agency says ostriches that appear healthy may still spread the disease.

The agency has custody of the birds, and the farm’s owners have claimed they were unlawfully removed from the property by the agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The cull appeared imminent, but the Supreme Court issued a stay until it decided whether to hear the farm’s case.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. sent a letter to the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency urging him to reconsider destroying the birds. Separately, Dr. Mehmet Oz, former TV personality and current administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, offered his Florida ranch to relocate the animals.