News

Another slaughterhouse worker has finally been convicted following the 2015 dairy investigation by Farmwatch and SAFE that horrified New Zealanders and caused controversy internationally. The man, from Down Cow Ltd, was filmed via hidden camera dragging days’ old dairy calves across a concrete floor by their legs, and has been...

SAFE says that it is vital that the ongoing outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis is dealt with humanely, with high priority placed on animal welfare. The Government and farming sector bodies announced on 28 May that an attempt will be made to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis from New Zealand, which will involve...

The 2018 duck shooting season started the first weekend of May. The result is that many of our normally tranquil wetlands are awash with the sounds of gunfire, accompanying the slaughter and potential crippling of huge numbers of birds. There are many reasons that these hunters cause high rates of...

Thousands of ducks, geese and swans will be killed or left injured by  hunters when duck shooting season starts on Saturday, 5 May. Our tranquil waterways will erupt in gunfire, slaughter and injury, says SAFE campaigns manager Marianne Macdonald. Native species will be amongst the casualties, says Macdonald, since it...

Businesses, volunteers and supporters baked up a whole lot of kindness from April 15th-22nd to support SAFE in making a positive difference for animals. This year marked the 10th Anniversary of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and SAFE are proud to have been the New Zealand partner organisation for such...

Starbucks is being urged to go cage-egg free worldwide by over 55 major international animal protection organisations as part of a global campaign. The coordinated campaign asking for Starbucks to use exclusively cage-free eggs has just launched out of Europe at the 2018 summit of the Open Wing Alliance, of...

In the last year, we’ve made huge progress for egg-laying hens. With your help, we secured cage-free commitments from ALL of New Zealand’s major supermarkets: Countdown, New World, PAK’nSAVE, Fresh Collective, Four Square, FreshChoice, SuperValue, On The Spot, Gilmours, Trents Wholesale, Write Price, Shopwrite and Raeward Fresh will all be...

More than 16,000 mother pigs are kept confined in farrowing crates in New Zealand. Tightly confined, a mother pig can merely step forward or backwards. She cannot even turn around for weeks on end. She will never be able to build a nest for her piglets, who will be taken...

While it doesn’t take an animal welfare expert to see that animals are distressed when chased, wrestled, roped, spurred and forced to buck in rodeo event, it’s pleasing to see the wealth of experts that are now speaking out. Among them is Dr Peggy Larson who visited New Zealand earlier...

For the first time in Australia’s controversial live export trade’s history, shocking new footage has been released of horrific conditions on board the shipments, highlighting the reputational risk of all live export, says SAFE.   More than 4,000 sheep died in five routine shipments aboard the Awassi Express headed to...

She thinks. She feels. She suffers. This little sheep was a unique individual, the same as the beloved cats and dogs that share our homes. She is gone now. She was taken on a live export shipment from Australia to the Persian Gulf to be slaughtered for meat. For the first...

As the rodeo season ends, opposition continues to ramp up to end these events and SAFE is calling on the Government to make this season the last. During the six-month rodeo season, which ended on Saturday with Waimarino rodeo, public concern has raised this issue to such a level that...

Today SAFE’s petition to ban farrowing crates signed by 112,844 people, believed to be the largest petition in five years, was handed in to Parliament. The petition was delivered to Green MP and spokesperson for animal welfare Gareth Hughes by SAFE, a live pig called Buttercup and actor Thomasin Harcourt...

As the New Zealand rodeo season draws to a close with the Wanaka rodeo finals this weekend, we are ensuring that this form of animal cruelty remains in the spotlight by launching a hard-hitting nationwide campaign. This campaign includes a cinema advertisement and striking billboards, comparing the cruelty of calf roping...