OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday it will not hear an appeal regarding a federal agency’s mandate to cull hundreds of ostriches at a British Columbia farm.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued the cull order last Dec. 31 following detection of a bird flu outbreak.

Owners of the farm in the southern interior community of Edgewood, British Columbia have been fighting the order in the courts, arguing the surviving ostriches show no signs of illness and should be spared.

The food inspection agency says ostriches that appear healthy may still spread the disease.

The agency has custody of the birds, and the farm’s owners have claimed they were unlawfully removed from the property by the agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The cull appeared imminent,

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