The Government appoints an Animal Welfare Associate Minister

Top image: Georgina Goodwin

Thank you to our supporters who have been calling on the Government to do this. This Ministerial appointment brings us one step closer to achieving the changes you are asking for. 

We’re pleased to see the Labour Government put more focus on animal welfare with this appointment, especially after receiving a ‘Grade C’ (from a ‘Grade A’) in our Animal Protection Index at the start of this year. There’s clearly more work to do for animals in Aotearoa!

Thank you for signing our petition and using your voice to put animals on the agenda in this Government.

Together, we can continue asking for:

You want the Government to update the Animal Welfare Act to offer legal protection to all animals in farming, sport and entertainment by including measures such as the following:

• ban all live animal exports;
• end all close confinement farming systems, such as farrowing crates for mother pigs;
• improve welfare standards for chickens which are currently below standards in comparable countries like Australia;
• make cameras in slaughterhouses compulsory;
• provide for speedy phase-outs of testing on animals and factory farming;
• remove the responsibility for animal welfare from The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI);
• provide for a Minister for Animal Welfare and an independent Commissioner for Animal Welfare who is properly resourced to monitor and enforce animal welfare; and
• a budget of at least $100 million a year should be provided to make this possible. 

We’ll continue to demand that the Government goes further on these animal welfare issues and will keep you updated. Together, we can give New Zealand’s animals better protection.