Edgewood’s Universal Ostrich Farm has lost its latest attempt at the Federal Court of Appeal for another stay order to prevent the cull of its flock of nearly 400.
The farm was granted an interim stay of the cull ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Sept. 6.
But, Justice Gerald Heckman wrote in a Sept. 12 ruling the farm’s request for an additional stay of up to six months would “jeopardize Canada’s access, for its poultry and poultry products, to the export markets of its most important trading partners, including the European Union and the United States.”
The farm’s owners plan to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to stop the culling, though it is unclear whether the country’s highest court will hear the case.
Heckman noted in his ruling that the farm had not established its proposed appeal raised “a serious or arguable issue considering the criteria for leave to appeal set out in the Supreme Court Act.”
“It has not established that there is a serious question to be tried on its application for a stay, pending ministerial consideration, under the Federal Courts Act,” Heckman wrote.
“Finally, it has not established that the harm it will suffer from the refusal of a stay outweighs the harm to the public interest resulting from the granting of a stay.”
The farm has lost its case in both Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal and now faces an “Open Cull Order.”
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued the cull order in December following an avian flu outbreak on the farm.
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