Descrease article font size
Increase article font size
The Supreme Court of Canada has granted a stay in the destruction of a flock of ostriches until the court mulls an application for leave to appeal.
“Our lawyer called and Supreme Court of Canada has granted us an interim stay,” Katie Pasitney with the Universal Ostrich Farm said on Wednesday morning.
“We need to find out the specifics, but we’ve been granted an interim stay by Supreme Court of Canada. The animals are not dying today, and they’re not probably dying tomorrow, but we are going to be allowed to exhaust our full legal options.”
Pastiney said this buys the farm more time to fight the order.
The high court’s document, supplied by the farm’s lawyer Umar Sheikh, says the order stays the enforcement of the CFIA’s “stamping-out policy” until the application for leave to appeal is dismissed or, if leave to appeal is granted, until the case is disposed of.
Story continues below advertisement
2:01
Two people arrested at ostrich farm standoff
Previously, the hay-bale wall set up around the flock of ostriches was burned by fire early Wednesday morning.
Trending Now
-
Will Canada avoid a recession? Here’s what economists say
-
‘Multiple’ people shot, shooter dead at ICE facility in Dallas, official says
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Firefighters could be seen hosing down the smouldering bales, which are stacked about three metres high.
Tensions at the Universal Ostrich Farm have been high since Monday, after officers with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and RCMP officers arrived at the scene.
Karen Espersen, co-owner of the farm, and Pasitney, her daughter, were both taken into custody for refusing to leave the farm on Tuesday, though they were released later in the day.
They have been trying to prevent a cull of ostriches ordered by regulators when the herd was infected with avian flu last year.
Protesters gathered at the farm as well, arguing that the birds should be studied for scientific purposes.
Story continues below advertisement
More to come.
-with files from The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.