Canada’s Supreme Court has delayed a planned execution of nearly 400 ostriches at a farm in British Columbia over an avian flu outbreak, after the farm owners protested the cull order.
It is the latest in a case that has drawn international attention, including from senior White House officials.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision, made on Wednesday, will temporarily halt the planned culling of the birds by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) while the owners appeal.
It comes a day after police briefly arrested the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms for obstructing food inspection agents “from performing their duties”, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.
In a statement, police said the food inspection agents were granted a warrant to search the farm’s property.
RCMP officers were requested to accompany them, they said, due to “increased tensions” and “protests” on the farm.
The CFIA said that it will maintain custody of the birds as ordered by the court and provide appropriate feed and water with veterinary oversight.
It also said that search warrants authorising the agency to take control of specific areas of the farm remain in effect and access is limited without CFIA permission.
Katie Pastiney, one of the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that she and her mother Karen Espersen were arrested while trying to feed the ostriches.
Ms Pastiney and Ms Espersen have vehemently opposed the cull order on the ostriches, and had launched a months-long court battle in a bid to stop it.
That battle has attracted international attention, including from US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy, who penned a letter in May to the head of the CFIA asking the agency to study the birds instead.
Dr Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, offered separately to re-home the birds on his Florida ranch, Ms Pastiney told CBC News in May, though the farm rejected the offer.
She had previously urged US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who has Canadian citizenship, to intervene.
The CFIA ordered that the birds be culled in December after an avian flu outbreak on the farm killed 69 ostriches.
“Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to avian influenza to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist,” the CFIA had said.
“It would increase the possibility of reassortment or mutation, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife. This could also increase the human health risk.”
Video posted by Ms Pastiney on Facebook on Tuesday shows CFIA officials building enclosures on the farm using hay bales, which she said were being used “to chase our ostriches into square corrals”.
Local media reported that part of the hay-bale wall caught fire early on Wednesday morning, and firefighters were seen hosing down the flames. It is unclear what caused the fire.
Protestors have been gathered at the farm since Monday, following the arrival of the RCMP and CFIA officials.
The Supreme Court’s intervention comes after a Federal Court of Appeal judge ruled on 12 September that the cull can go ahead.
Judge Gerald Heckman said in his ruling that the farm has failed to establish any “serious or arguable issue” for why its case should be heard by the highest court.
In Wednesday’s order, Supreme Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin said the CFIA must maintain custody of the birds and the farm must not interfere while it decides on whether to hear the case.
The federal inspection agency must respond to the appeal by 3 October, Justice O’Bonsawin ordered.