An ostrich farm in British Columbia has been granted another interim stay by the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa, delaying the execution of the birds condemned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency because of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C wants to save it remaining 69 ostriches.
The farm has lost in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, but on Thursday its lawyer sought another stay on the cull order, filing a series of documents as the farm seeks a hearing in Canada’s high court.
In a decision dated Saturday, the Federal Court of Appeal granted an interim stay until the stay motion “is decided on the basis of a full record.”
The decision says a notice to cull the birds is “hereby stayed pending the disposition of the stay motion,” with the deadline for the CFIA to respond to that stay motion being Tuesday.
“This gives us a little bit of time, not a lot,” lawyer Umar Sheikh, who represents the farm, said in an interview shorty after the interim stay motion was granted.
