Ottawa, Canada - Canada's Supreme Court ordered a stay on the culling of a flock of ostriches in which two birds have tested positive for bird flu, after pressure mounted from the US.

A flock of about 400 ostriches was spared from the executioners' hand when the Canadian Supreme Court granted an interim stay of a previous court order.

The prior order, from December 31 last year, ordered the culling of all ostriches on Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, after two birds were diagnosed with the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Universal Ostrich Farms has fought the court order since it was handed down last year, arguing that such a culling would cause "irreparable harm" to their business and is unnecessary.

The stay of execution for the 400 ostriches came just in time, as they were scheduled to be put down later on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that it will retain custody of the birds and will "provide appropriate feed and water with veterinary oversight" until the court process has concluded.

Their fight to save the ostriches has seen support from across the southern border, with prominent members of the Trump administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz protesting the culling.

In August, Dr. Oz pleaded with the Canadian government to save the ostriches because "maybe they've got secrets that can help other birds."

Dr. Oz said that he wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and requested that he be allowed to take the ostriches and house them at his farm in Florida. It is unclear how Carney responded.