Macaulay River valley, South Canterbury, New Zealand

Animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

is governed by the

Animal Welfare Act 1999 __NOTOC__ The Animal Welfare Act 1999 is a current Act of Parliament in New Zealand. It is administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries. See also *Animal welfare in New Zealand *Agriculture in New Zealand In New Zealand, agriculture ...

and a number of organisations actively advocate for both animal welfare and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

. Pest control and farming practices have been scrutinised with respect to animal welfare issues. The legality of killing dogs and cats for consumption has also been criticized.

Animal welfare issues

The New Zealand economy relies heavily on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and many animal welfare issues involve the farming sector. Despite claims that New Zealand has high animal welfare standards, a 2016 report from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, reviewing the use of farrowing crates on pig farms, found that the pork industry does not accept its requirements under the Pigs Codes of Welfare (2010), and that failure by industry to act in accordance with the Pigs Codes of Welfare (2010) is commonplace. Additionally, the Pigs Codes of Welfare (2010) contradicts animals rights to express normal patterns of behavior as outlined in the Animal Welfare Act 1999. There were animal welfare concerns on the controversial CraFarms and in June 2011 five people involved with Crafers Taharua Dairy Farm pleaded not guilty to 714 charges of alleged animal welfare offences. In 2013 a farmer was convicted of animal welfare offences after breaking or injuring the tails of 230 cows and he was banned from owning cows. The case was the worst of its type that had been seen by the authorities. A

resource consent A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...

application under the

Resource Management Act 1991 The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

for the

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

of cattle in the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest suc ...

in 2009 attracted opposition because of concerns over animal welfare, even though animal welfare is not a part of the RMA. The application was "called in" under provisions of the RMA. The usage of 1080 in New Zealand (a

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

and animal health measure) attracts some opposition on animal welfare grounds but a 2007 assessment of 1080 (

sodium fluoroacetate Sodium fluoroacetate is an organofluorine chemical compound with the formula FCH2CO2Na. This colourless salt has a taste similar to that of sodium chloride and is used as a rodenticide. History and production The effectiveness of sodium fluoroa ...

) concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks. In 2010 Landcare Research New Zealand Limited prepared a paper for MAF Biosecurity New Zealand called "How humane are our pest control tools?". Various vertebrate toxic agents such as 1080, Brodifacoum, Cholecalciferol and so on, kill traps in mammal species, in-burrow rabbit control methods and leg hold traps, rotenone, alphachloralose and DRC-1339 looked at the ‘animal welfare impact’ (humanness) of these control tools. The paper describes in detail how various toxins affect different animals. Information on level of consciousness at various times/events after dosing are still needed to fully assess its negative experiences and humanness.

Animal research

Animal research Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...

is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and organisations using animals must follow an approved code of ethical conduct. This sets out the policies and procedures that need to be adopted and followed by the organisation and its

animal ethics Animal ethics is a branch of ethics which examines human-animal relationships, the moral consideration of animals and how nonhuman animals ought to be treated. The subject matter includes animal rights, animal welfare, animal law, speciesism, ani ...

committee (AEC). Every project must be approved and monitored by an AEC which includes lay members.

Companion animals

In 2009, a Tongan man living in New Zealand cooked his dog in his back yard, which prompted calls to ban the practice, but this did not happen.

Livestock transportation

On 14 April 2021, the Government of

announced that, in order to raise animal welfare standards, it had decided to phase out the export of livestock by sea by 2023 after a transition period of up to two years. It was the first country in history to do so; activists called on

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and other states to follow suit.

Wildlife smuggling

New Zealand has a number of rare and endangered species and there have been cases of

wildlife smuggling Wildlife smuggling or trafficking involves the illegal gathering, transportation, and distribution of animals and their derivatives. This can be done either internationally or domestically. Estimates of the money generated by wildlife smuggling ...

. The Wildlife Enforcement Group, a group of three government departments, collectively investigate smuggling to and from New Zealand. The three agencies are the

New Zealand Customs Service The New Zealand Customs Service (Customs, Māori: ''Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa'') is a state sector organisation in New Zealand whose role is to provide border control and protect the community from potential risks arising from international trade ...

, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. New Zealand is a signatory to

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which was set up to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. CITES is administered by the

Organisations

A number of organisations in New Zealand actively pursue animal welfare issues. The

Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (abbreviated as RNZSPCA or SPCA) is a New Zealand charitable society who work to promote the humane treatment of animals. The society consists of 35 animal shelters around New ...

(RNZSPCA or more commonly, SPCA), the longest established animal welfare organisation in New Zealand, was formed in Dunedin in 1882 and was inspired by the English

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

SAFE A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

(Save Animals From Exploitation) is an animal rights advocacy group that has run a number of high-profile campaigns. SAFE ran a campaign against

intensive pig farming Intensive pig farming, also known as pig factory farming, is the primary method of pig production, in which grower pigs are housed indoors in group-housing or straw-lined sheds, whilst pregnant sows are housed in gestation crates or pens and g ...

featuring the comedian Mike King who had previously fronted an advertising campaign that promoted the sale of

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

. The international animal welfare charity,

World Animal Protection World Animal Protection, formerly The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is an international non-profit animal rights organization that has been in operation since 1981. The charity describes its vision as: A world where animal ...

has a branch in New Zealand.World Animal Protection Canada

. Accessed 25 June 2014.

References

External links

Animal welfare
at the Ministry for Primary Industries
Animal Welfare Act 1999
at the Parliamentary Counsel Office
Animal welfare
at the New Zealand Veterinary Association
'' Animal Welfare in New Zealand''
VetLearn Foundation (subscription required)
Story: Pets – Animal welfare history
at Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand ;Organisations
List of animal welfare organisations
in New Zealand
Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsSAFEWorld Animal Protection
(New Zealand) {{Animal welfare by country