A federal court justice in British Columbia has given a reprieve to 400 ostriches on a secluded ranch in southeast British Columbia that were ordered killed over fears of the spread of avian flu.
Justice Michael Battista ruled late Friday that more information is needed to determine whether the cull – ordered last month by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency – was reasonable and necessary.
Two of the birds died, but the rest have survived for two weeks since the last one died Jan. 16. The owners say ostriches have unusually high immune systems.
The birds were slated to be destroyed Feb. 1 after a virulent strain of avian flu, known as H5N1, was discovered in the flock late in December.
The virus has been sweeping through poultry farms across B.C. and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ordered complete destruction of any flock that has an infected bird.
Justice Battista ruled that killing the ostriches would expose the farm’s owners – Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski of Edgewood, B.C. – to “irreparable harm,” resulting in the closing of their 25-year-old business and the loss of animals they have spent decades fostering.
The justice also questioned whether the CFIA kill order was “reasonable” in this case, and whether it infringed on provincial responsibility.
CFIA lawyers noted that a country cannot be considered free of avian flu until at least 12 months from an infection in poultry, as opposed to 28 days where stamping out is implemented.
They owners said the World Organization for Animal Health – the international standard-setting organization for the safe trade in animals and animal products – allows member countries, including Canada, to use vaccination to fight avian flu.
The 24-hectare ranch is located 10 kilometres outside Edgewood. Fauquier, the nearest town, is accessible by a ferry across Arrow Lake.
Vernon, the nearest city is a two-hour drive west. Since the COVID pandemic shuttered their meat and oils business, Espersen and Bilinski have been producing and extracting antibodies from ostrich eggs for scientific research.
