Blog Articles

It has been nearly seven months since MP Gareth Hughes accepted SAFE’s petition to ban farrowing crates. This was the largest petition Parliament had received in five years, and it was promptly given to the Primary Production Select Committee to consider. Since then the committee has asked for submissions from...

SAFE has laid an official complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over a Tegel ‘free-range’ chicken advertisement, which it says is grossly misleading. The television advertisement shows happy cartoon chickens running around an expansive outdoor farm, with lyrics claiming the chickens are “free to roam around outside… for some chicken fun.”...

SAFE congratulates Kiwi snack giant, Cookie Time, for embracing the international cage-free egg trend. After being encouraged by SAFE, the cookie company has released policy for all their brands to phase out cage eggs. “[Cookie Time] is committed to switching to 100 per cent cage-free eggs by 2023,” the company...

On behalf of the SAFE Board, I would like to apologise for the change in date of the SAFE AGM. Please disregard your earlier invitation. I would now like to formally invite you to the 2018 Annual General Meeting which will take place on Saturday 24 November in Wellington. The...

SAFE is slamming the Government for its refusal to separate the agriculture and animal welfare portfolios, in a breach of its election commitments. Responsibility for animal welfare was assigned to the Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor, after the role was stripped from Meka Whaitiri. During the election campaign, Labour stated...

SAFE is applauding manufacturers Delmaine Fine Foods and George Weston Foods for joining the international cage-free egg movement. After hearing from SAFE, both food giants have developed domestic policies in line with this growing trend. Delmaine is one of the most prominent fresh egg pasta suppliers in the country, both...

New Zealand is becoming a plant-powered nation. Pizza giant Domino’s has finally given us vegan cheese. We have our very own chicken-free chicken made from pea protein. Z – a petrol station, of all things! – now have two vegan pies, and even a sorbet. We are spoilt for choice as...

Animal rights group SAFE is taking aim at the misleading labels on the packaging of chickens bred for meat. Annually, around 120 million chickens are bred for meat in New Zealand, and that figure is increasing each year.  The birds are selectively bred to double in size every week, before...

Chicken farmers have a financial incentive to create an inherently cruel industry. The more chickens they can pack in sheds and the faster they can get them to slaughter, the more money they stand to make. But to keep things as they are, operators must keep the public in the...

Animal rights group SAFE is pressing the Government to reassign responsibility for animal welfare, after the role was stripped from outgoing Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri. Ms Whaitiri’s role previously encompassed animal welfare, but the removal of her portfolios means the responsibility now falls to Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. SAFE’s...

Today SAFE was happy to be a voice for animals at a climate discussion with the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw in Christchurch. This discussion comes ahead of the drafting of the proposed Zero Carbon Bill. Animal agriculture is very big part of environment discussions as methane from livestock...

Kiwis are a nation of animal lovers who oppose blatant animal cruelty. We all share a vision where New Zealand is free from cruel cages. But how to get there? For the last few years, SAFE has been engaging in corporate campaigns. We’ve particularly focused on developing policies with New...

SAFE welcomes the sentencing today of the owner of a slaughterhouse where bobby calves were brutally beaten and abused. Alan Cleaver owned ‘Down Cow’, a Huntly slaughterhouse which was the subject of a Farmwatch and SAFE exposé in 2015. Distressing footage obtained at the slaughterhouse showed workers kicking, punching, and...

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it will soon release the findings from its investigation into the use of illegal sow stalls on a Timaru farm. Sow stalls, used to cage pregnant pigs, were banned in 2015 on cruelty grounds.  However, hidden-camera footage shot in April this year shows the...