Blog Articles

Countdown’s announcement today that it will phase out selling cage eggs under its own private egg label will improve the lives of some hens but falls short of heeding calls from their customers for them to go fully cage-free, a new poll shows.   Countdown has been encouraged by SAFE and...

In his opinion piece (“Who is the greater polluter, cows or people; NZ Herald, 27 January 2017”)  Malcolm Lumsden tried to argue that people cause more damage than cows.  Not only did the article use too much poetic licence, facts about the  negative impact of animal farming on the environment...

My work week started pretty normally on Monday 30 January. I expected  it to be a busy week. We knew a livestock vessel, the Awassi Express,  was due in Napier to take 5300 cows to China for the dairy industry. (We now know only 4500 were loaded, but not why...

Think outside the square with Animals & Us  textbooks – open minds, express positive values, explore alternative  learning pathways. Jasmijn de Boo, SAFE CEO, is delighted to invite you to the launch of Animals in Factory Farms, the fifth issue of SAFE’s Animals & Us school textbook series. Animals in...

Over 5000 New Zealand cows are being shipped to  China this week to be used in the dairy industry. Staff from SAFE’s  Wellington office drove to the port to witness the ship arriving and the  loading of the animals, where they took photos. Departing from Napier, the animals have been...

SAFE is pleased to announce the latest update  to our cruelty-free list, SAFEshopper, which lists companies that do not  test on animals. Finding companies that truly don’t test on animals can  be tricky due to misleading wording, but we’ve done the hard work for  you. A very warm welcome to...

Following the release of new video evidence filmed at the Mid Northern rodeo in Whangarei demonstrating the brutality of rodeo events, plus further footage from the Upper Mohaka rodeo, eight companies have severed ties with rodeo, says SAFE. Real estate agents LJ Hooker, Ray White and Harcourts; Firth Industries, Rock...

A new investigation filmed at the Upper Mohaka rodeo on 22 January by Farmwatch shows  animals clearly in distress. The footage provides further evidence of  the routine, widespread suffering of the animals used in rodeo events. The footage shows: Calves being hurled off the ground by ropes around their necks;...

New video evidence filmed at the Mid Northern rodeo in Whangarei this month demonstrates the brutality of rodeo events, says SAFE.  Animals were filmed clearly fearful and stressed, as well as being deliberately shocked with an electric prod. The investigation shows that animal welfare is severely compromised at rodeo events....

Guest blogger FLIP GRATER is a singer-songwriter from Christchurch with many albums to her credit. She is also a published author of  vegetarian travel cookbooks and an avid foodie. Her harrowing song  ‘Where’s the Door’ featured in two of SAFE’s television ads to help  caged pigs and hens. The SAFE...

We know Countdown’s customers care about hens  and want the supermarket giant to stop selling all cage eggs. Now people  of all ages have put their message in writing, telling Countdown their  personal reason why they want cage-free, and snapped a photo for a new website. Countdown’s parent company, Woolworths,...

New Zealanders don’t like hens being kept in  cages. We know that and you know that, but it seemed Countdown still  didn’t want to listen. It was time they REALLY understood, so caring  Kiwis decided to take their message to them in a slightly different way  and ask them to...

Guest blogger Carolyn Press-McKenzie is the founder and CEO of HUHA (Helping You Help Animals),  New Zealand’s leading ‘no kill’ shelter. HUHA actively works every day  to find homes and foster care for a multitude of homeless, abandoned,  seized and abused animals. Quinn is just one of thousands of animals...

New Zealand prides itself on its animal welfare  reputation, yet evidence shows the minimum legal standards for care are  not even being met in some circumstances, with the New Zealand pork  industry refusing to give sows nesting material before they give birth. They are ignoring government advice that they need to do so. Sows...