News

Animal rights group SAFE is pressing the Government to reassign responsibility for animal welfare, after the role was stripped from outgoing Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri. Ms Whaitiri’s role previously encompassed animal welfare, but the removal of her portfolios means the responsibility now falls to Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. SAFE’s...

Today SAFE was happy to be a voice for animals at a climate discussion with the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw in Christchurch. This discussion comes ahead of the drafting of the proposed Zero Carbon Bill. Animal agriculture is very big part of environment discussions as methane from livestock...

Kiwis are a nation of animal lovers who oppose blatant animal cruelty. We all share a vision where New Zealand is free from cruel cages. But how to get there? For the last few years, SAFE has been engaging in corporate campaigns. We’ve particularly focused on developing policies with New...

SAFE welcomes the sentencing today of the owner of a slaughterhouse where bobby calves were brutally beaten and abused. Alan Cleaver owned ‘Down Cow’, a Huntly slaughterhouse which was the subject of a Farmwatch and SAFE exposé in 2015. Distressing footage obtained at the slaughterhouse showed workers kicking, punching, and...

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it will soon release the findings from its investigation into the use of illegal sow stalls on a Timaru farm. Sow stalls, used to cage pregnant pigs, were banned in 2015 on cruelty grounds.  However, hidden-camera footage shot in April this year shows the...

Having attended a slaughterhouse vigil this year, I’d seen, through slots in arriving trucks, wide-eyed animals crammed together. In-between their arrival, refrigerated trucks drove in and out of Auckland Meat Processors, picking up the dismembered pieces of those who had only a short time before, faced the worst possible moments...

SAFE is applauding Mobil New Zealand for being the first country in its global network to join the international cage-free egg movement. After hearing from SAFE and concerned Kiwis, Mobil revealed in a policy this morning that its 120 stores will remove cage-eggs for sale by the end of this...

SAFE is disgusted by new images showing cows giving birth in barren paddocks of deep mud. The photos, taken in Southland last week and sent to SAFE, come amid outrage over the cruel treatment of cattle over winter – which also marks the start of calving season. SAFE’s Head of...

SAFE is congratulating the nationwide food store chain Night ‘n Day, for embracing a cage-free future. After discussions with SAFE, the franchise has announced its 58 stores will move to sell only cage-free whole eggs by 2025. Night n’ Day unveiled the change yesterday, in response to customer enquiries.  In...

One of New Zealand’s oldest names in coffee, Robert Harris, has joined the cage-free egg revolution. After talks with SAFE, the café brand is committing to a future of free-range only eggs. By the end of 2020, the café chain’s breakfast menu will serve only free-range eggs.  By 2025, all...

SAFE is applauding Kiwi grocery chain Bin Inn  for embracing cage-free policy with a swift turnaround time. The  commitment will see all 36 Bin Inn stores, from Whangarei to Alexandria,  cage-free in whole eggs by 2020. This is one of the fastest supermarket  chain-wide switches yet. After working with SAFE...

Feedlots are a form of intense agriculture in which cattle are confined in pens, without grass and usually without any shelter, to feed them up before slaughter. In New Zealand, cattle can be held in these pens for months at a time. New drone-footage reveals the reality of feedlots already...

Animal advocacy group SAFE is calling for farming groups to develop whistle-blower programmes, after revelations workers are receiving death threats for reporting abuse. The comment was made by SAFE CEO, Debra Ashton, in a speech to industry figures and the Associate Minister of Agriculture, Hon Meka Whaitiri, at an MPI...

SAFE calling for humane treatment of animals to be taught in schools following teenagers’ involvement in seal shooting. SAFE says four teenagers’ involvement in the shooting of a protected  leopard seal near Dargaville shows a desperate need for compulsory  animal education in schools. The animal was fatally shot in the...