News

Northern Eggs colony cage cruelty

September 14th, 2021

On this week's episode of Animal Matters, Will Appelbe speaks with a whistleblower who used to work at Northern Eggs, a colony cage farm near Whangarei. This brave informant put themselves at great personal risk to expose the cruelty that's currently occu

Greyhound racing still struggling with doping and injuries

September 21st, 2021

Last week we bought you the interview with a former Northern Eggs employee, who spoke out about the appalling treatment of hens at the colony cage farm. Today we’ll bring you the latest on that story. And the greyhound racing industry is still grapplin

Kōrero with Shanti Ahluwalia from NZAVS

June 15th, 2021

This week on Animal Matters, Will Appelbe sits down with Shanti Ahluwalia from the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS) to talk about Aotearoa's relationship with animal testing.

Kōrero with Christine Dorchak, GREY2K USA Worldwide

February 21st, 2022

Christine Dorchak is the President and General Counsel at GREY2K USA Worldwide, a non-profit committed to protecting greyhounds and working to end the cruelty of dog racing.

The salmonella outbreak and greyhound racetrack woes

October 5th, 2021

The Greyhound racing industry has had a double blow in the last few weeks. One of it’s race tracks is facing closure, and another potential new track has failed to even get off the ground. And Aotearoa has been silently battling an outbreak of salmone

Kōrero with Daisy Lab’s Irina Miller

February 8th, 2022

Today on the show I’m chatting with Irina Miller, Daisy Lab’s co-founder and CEO. We’ve talked about Daisy Lab before in episode 53. They’re a food technology start up based right here in Aotearoa, that seeks to use precision fermentation to make dairy pr

An open letter to the Agriculture Minister

October 18th, 2021

This week, SAFE published and open letter to the Agriculture Minister, signed by oer 250 veterinary professionals, who all want a ban on colony cages. And last week, SAFE launched a new campaign called ‘fishes belong in the sea’. This is a new area fo

Kōrero with Lynn Tan, Animal Advocacy Africa

October 26th, 2021

Over the last six months, Lynn Tan has conducted research to understand the most pressing problems faced by African animal advocates and what could be done to solve them.

Kōrero with Angel Food’s Alice Shopland

March 8th, 2021

Will Appelbe sits down with Alice Shopland, the founder of Aotearoa plant-based food company Angel Food. Alice launched Angel Food in 2006, and has since built a strong brand and a reputation as one of Aotearoa’s leading vegan cheese manufacturers. In 201

Biscuit tins, and what they have to do with greyhounds

March 1st, 2021

A change to Parliament’s standing orders could make it a lot easier for backbench MPs to get their Bills debated in the house. Will Appelbe discusses what this means and how it could benefit animals, specifically Greyhounds. A live export crisis in the Me

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

February 3rd, 2021

Will Appelbe recaps the latest current affairs. Soaring temperatures in Canterbury puts greyhounds at risk. New technology is being introduced in Germany's egg industry which would avoid the need to kill millions of day old. A rodeo cowboy is sentenced an

Animal abuse, extensive injuries and methamphetamine: Is the end near for New Zealand’s greyhound racing industry?

November 17th, 2022

Is the bell finally tolling for greyhound racing in New Zealand? If conversations and media stories with Racing Minister Kieran McAnulty are to be believed, the industry’s days may very well be numbered. After yet another horror weekend on Auckland’s race

The dairy industry’s failings, and rescuing animals with Shawn Bishop

July 20th, 2020

A bad couple of weeks for the dairy industry. We cover some of the latest current affairs, including the light sentencing of animal abuser Mike Luke, as well as a Dairy Industry Award winner who was stripped of his title due to profane and disrespectful t

Animals in captivity, live export, and human animal relationships with Dr. Nik Taylor

April 27th, 2020

Wild animals are doing it tough in cages, both in New Zealand and abroad, and on Netflix it seems. We speak to Dr. Nik Taylor about animal human relationships, oppression, violence, and how these intertwine and play a role in our society. And Taranaki loc