News

Today, the European Commission announced its commitment to ban the caging of all farmed animals across the European Union by 2027. The historic commitment will free 300 million animals from cages. As the world moves away from outdated and cruel intensive confinement of animals in cages, Aotearoa is lagging behind....

Recently, a brave informant came forward to share haunting stories of their experiences on board a live export ship. Over the last few weeks, we’ve shared their account in ‘True stories from a live export ship’ in our social media. In this blog, you can read the informant’s story and...

Animal videos have become hugely popular online. While they may seem innocuous, they can pose a real risk of harm to animals. The latest, a TikTok video showing a person ‘tickling’ a stingray, has gained around 100 million views in just over a week. But the video is far from...

Advisory: Correction on live export protest this weekend in Ahuriri Napier Source: SAFE For Animals — Our media release incorrectly stated that a peaceful protest will be held in Ahuriri Napier on Sunday 19 June, which may have caused some confusion. The protest will be this Sunday, 20 June. Read...

Two live export ships expected to arrive in Ahuriri soon Source: SAFE For Animals — The live export ship Maysora is expected to arrive at Ahuriri port in Napier this weekend. Yangtze Harmony is also expected to arrive in Ahuriri next week. Over 15,000 cows have been exported from Ahuriri...

Shark finning will continue in Aotearoa until onboard cameras become compulsory Source: SAFE For Animals — The New Zealand Herald reported on Monday that Aotearoa exported 13.5 tonnes of shark fins last year. In 2014 it became illegal to remove fins at sea from sharks caught in New Zealand waters...

Aotearoa lags behind as EU moves to ban colony cages Source: SAFE For Animals — Last week the European Parliament urged the European Commission to ban the caging of all farmed animals across the European Union by 2027. The resolution was adopted with overwhelming support from MEPs. Read more

Federal Morgan broke his leg in the final race at the “Silver Collar” races at the Auckland Greyhound Racing Club on Sunday 13 June 2021. Federal Morgan was considered a star performer, who’s trainer Lisa Cole made a late withdrawal of three other dogs so Federal Morgan could run in...

Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day marred as live export ships make their way to Aotearoa Source: SAFE For Animals — Today for Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day, people around the world are pressuring their governments to end the live export trade. Read more

Stuff revealed yesterday that dairy industry animal welfare complaints have increased over the last four years. According to data from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), in 2017 there were 264 complaints, 258 in 2018, 332 in 2019 and last year there were 373. Read more

Two years is too long. In the time it could take to phase out live export by sea, hundreds of thousands more New Zealand animals will potentially have to endure the horror of the live export trade. Following the Government’s announcement on 14 April that live export by sea will...

Yesterday at Manukau Stadium in Auckland, the greyhound Paris End was euthanised after falling during a race and suffering several fractures. He was just over 3 years old. Five other dogs sustained significant injuries at the same meeting, including fractures, dislocated joints and strained hocks. Read more

Animals are losing out in this year’s budget, which doesn’t include any additional funding for animal welfare initiatives. SAFE CEO Debra Ashton said this was a concern considering the stressed Ministry for Primary Industries took over a year to investigate the mass death of 180,000 chickens at an Auckland farm....

On 16 April, the Government announced a review of greyhound racing in Aotearoa. The announcement came after SAFE, the Greyhound Protection League NZ and Grey2K USA Worldwide brought to light the plight of greyhounds trapped in the racing industry in New Zealand. The review is a great step forward, but will...