Canada’s high court on Thursday ended a months-long battle to save some 400 ostriches exposed to avian influenza that had attracted support from the likes of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The final legal block to culling the birds was removed when Canada’s Supreme Court refused to hear the case brought by the owners of the ostriches seeking to overturn a kill order.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it will now move forward with “depopulation and disposal measures” aimed at mitigating the risk of further avian influenza infections, after a December 2024 outbreak killed 69 birds at Universal Ostrich Farms in rural British Columbia.

The owners of the farm had launched multiple legal appeals against the initial cull order, maintaining that the birds developed herd immuni

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