Judge refuses to allow more avian flu tests on ostriches at BC farm

The Federal Court of Appeal is refusing to allow the owners of a British Columbia ostrich farm to conduct further testing of their flock for avian flu in a bid to avert a cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The same ruling that was issued on Friday but only published online on Monday grants a temporary stay of the cull until a ruling on an appeal that will be held no later than the week of July 21.

It says Universal Ostrich Farms has satisfied all three tests required for a temporary stay on the cull of about 400 birds at the farm in Edgewood, B.C., that has become the focus of protests and international attention.

The farm had also been seeking an order permitting it to conduct diagnostic tests on the birds and to suspend any directives from the food inspection agency prohibiting such tests, but Judge Sylvie Roussel denied both requests without explanation.

Dozens of ostriches died at the farm in December and January amid an outbreak of avian flu, and the food inspection agency says all birds in the flock must be culled under its "stamping out" policy.

Roussel says the farm would have faced irreparable harm if the stay were not granted, and the balance of convenience favours granting the pause.

Supporters of the farm have been camped at the property for weeks to prevent the cull, while U.S. authorities including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have called for the birds to be spared for their potential scientific value.