Animals in New Zealand are experiencing harm on a massive scale, trapped inside systems designed to protect them (and us all). See the latest investigations, public awareness campaigns and actions that accelerate progress for animals, and learn how we can challenge the systems that harm them.
A chicken can be bred to grow so quickly that she struggles to walk and still be raised on a farm certified by a trusted animal welfare organisation. That’s what recent footage from two SPCA Certified farms shows.
Following a formal complaint laid by SAFE lodged over ten months ago, the Coalition Government has failed to address concerns over Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard’s oversight of animal welfare. SAFE’s original complaint pointed to a pattern of decisions under Minister Hoggard’s watch that it says prioritised industry interests over
New Zealand’s Parliamentary Petitions Committee has recommended that the Government investigate how oversight of New Zealand’s animal welfare system could be improved.
In the UK and Europe, the dairy industry is fighting to control the word ‘milk’. What does that mean for Aotearoa?
Imagine being born on Tuesday, then dead by Friday.
That might sound shocking, dystopian, unimaginable. But for nearly 40% of dairy calves born in Aotearoa, life ends within their first week. Approximately two million dairy calves are sent for processing as ‘bobby’ calves each year, with most of these
Veganism was an explosive Internet trend. Now, it’s returned to its roots as a thoughtful, ethics-based movement. And that’s a good thing.
SAFE has launched a major new campaign calling for an end to factory farming in Aotearoa, backed by a public petition and a nationwide advertising campaign exposing the reality of intensive animal farming.
Aotearoa had a chance to improve hens’ lives. Instead, we’re preserving factory farming.
SAFE is raising serious conflict of interest concerns after the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) confirmed it will retain committee member Sandra Faulkner following her election as Vice President of Federated Farmers.
On 2 April 2026, the Racing Industry (Closure of Greyhound Racing Industry) Amendment Bill passed by a landslide majority. This means from 1 August 2026, greyhounds will no longer be forced to race for gambling profits, bringing an end to an industry responsible for decades of suffering.
The spread of bird flu, now confirmed in both Australia and New Zealand, has intensified concerns about how intensive animal farming can amplify the spread and impact of zoonotic diseases once they enter commercial flocks.
A major new commitment by the European Commission to phase out cages and crates for farmed animals including hens and pigs highlights how far New Zealand is falling behind on animal welfare.
In 2025, your support enabled SAFE to keep pushing where it matters most: exposing cruelty, challenging industry influence, and holding decision makers to account.
Before the 2023 general election, Andrew Hoggard was the head of farming lobby group Federated Farmers. Yet he now serves as the minister responsible for animal welfare – despite being deeply entangled with the very industries that profit from animal exploitation.
We’re calling on the Prime Minister to reassign
New footage from a Taranaki pig farm has revealed the grim reality of life inside a farrowing crate for mother pigs – the same cages the Government is rushing to legalise through the Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill.
Sadly, Kiwis may not be aware that one third of hens farmed for egg production in Aotearoa are farmed in these cruel cage systems. Why? Because the cage egg industry is doing its best to hide the truth.
The Government has taken a major step backwards for animal welfare by advancing a Bill that would allow the continued use of mating stalls and farrowing crates – cages that stop mother pigs from turning around, nesting, or caring for their piglets.
Spoiler alert… not much.
In September 2024, SAFE helped to expose harrowing footage of dead and dying sheep on a Southland mud farm. The footage gained national attention, raising serious concerns about the ethics of intensive farming practices. Federated Farmers dismissed the tragedy as the result of “bad weather.”
This Sunday is Bobby Calf Awareness Day – a day to recognise the two million newborn calves who are separated from their mothers and killed every year by New Zealand’s dairy industry.
When most people hear the phrase “world-best practice”, they expect it to mean the highest standards of care – for people, for animals, and for the environment. That’s what Lincoln University promises at its Dairy Demonstration Farm (LUDF), a showcase for international students and a training ground for the next