News

We Kiwis are pretty laid back. We’re way too busy having fun at the beach to start our New Year’s resolutions on 1 Jan! That’s why we’re a little late to the Veganuary party. But that’s okay, because here in Aotearoa, we’re extending our Veganuary celebrations right through February. And...

Will Appelbe sits down with Aaron Cross from the Greyhound Protection League. Aaron has been a fierce advocate for greyhounds for over a decade, speaking truth to power and holding the racing industry accountable for its appalling treatment of dogs.

On Wednesday, Germany’s Cabinet approved legislation that will prohibit the practice of killing newly hatched male chicks from 1 January next year. Instead, Germany will use in-ovo gender technology, which enables egg producers to test the sex of embryos inside the egg during the early stages of incubation. Read more

Ocean Ute, which arrived at Port Taranaki yesterday, is the second live export ship to arrive in New Zealand this year. Taranaki Animal Rights Group has two demonstrations planned for today. A protest at midday and a vigil at 6.30pm tonight. The number of cattle exported from New Zealand has...

For the first episode of 2021, Will Appelbe recaps the most recent current affairs from the last four weeks.

The Ministry of Health has for the first time acknowledged the correlation between sustainable diets and the climate emergency. The Ministry’s new eating guidelines say there is an urgent need to promote diets that are healthy and have low environmental impacts. Read more

Eight greyhounds have been euthanised since December 18 after sustaining racing injuries. This includes five in Whanganui at what animal rights organisation SAFE is calling a ‘death track’. SAFE spokesperson Will Appelbe is calling on the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to immediately close the Whanganui track for an investigation....

The Canterbury rodeo is part of the annual rodeo season, which last season saw two animals killed at rodeo events. Both animals died at the Mad Bull rodeo in Otago. SAFE spokesperson Will Appelbe said rodeo events cause pain, fear and distress to animals. Read more

Live export ship Dareen is expected to arrive at Napier Port this week to export a consignment of cows. This is the eighth livestock vessel to arrive at the Port this year. The cows are being exported for breeding purposes but will eventually be slaughtered in their destination country. Read...

Live export ship Yangtze Harmony is expected to arrive at Port Taranaki this week to export a consignment of cows. This is the seventh livestock vessel to arrive at the Port this year. The cows are being exported for breeding purposes but will eventually be slaughtered in their destination country....

Today SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) have published a full-page open letter in the New Zealand Herald, calling on the Prime Minister to appoint a Commissioner for Animals. In June 2020, SAFE and NZALA made legal history for mother pigs. For the first time in New...

Last month the High Court found that the Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor, on the advice of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), had acted unlawfully by not phasing out the use of farrowing crates and mating stalls. Now that the Government has accepted the Court’s decision, SAFE and...

Worldwide, 6.5 billion day-old male chicks are killed each year because the egg industry considers them to be unwanted by-products of egg production. This is because male chickens cannot lay eggs and are not suitable to be raised for meat. Last week, the trade association representing the largest egg producers...

This Saturday, so-called ‘cowboys’ will put animals at risk of injury or death at the ‘Mad Bull’ rodeo in Otago and the WFL Bull Ride Martinborough. Two bulls were killed at the Mad Bull rodeo last year, and another was killed at the Martinborough bull ride in 2018. Read more