Overview

• The Federal Court of Appeal on Aug. 21 upheld the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s order to cull roughly 400 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms after an H5N1 outbreak that killed 69 birds last winter.
• Farm counsel says an emergency stay is being prepared alongside an application to the Supreme Court of Canada to review the case.
• New York businessman John Catsimatidis says he and a friend have contributed about US$35,000 to the farm’s legal costs and held a news conference with Katie Pasitney and Dr. Mehmet Oz.
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Oz have urged that the birds be spared for research, with Oz offering to relocate them to his Florida ranch.
• CFIA maintains depopulation is needed to reduce mutation and transmission risk, citing a concerning viral genotype, and says it continues planning humane culling without disclosing operational details as supporters gather at the farm.