News

12-year-old schoolgirl Maja Skilling, who launched a petition aimed at stopping Countdown selling cage eggs, is upping the ante by spending her school holiday protesting with other passionate young people outside Ponsonby Countdown today.  Maja will be demanding that Countdown, ‘Have a Heart for Hens’ in Auckland, Thursday 6 October,...

Animal advocacy organisation SAFE is urging PM John Key to do the right  thing and reject the promised ‘gift’ of an elephant from the Sri Lankan  government. The call comes ahead of Sri Lanka Prime Minister, Ranil  Wickremesinghe’s first visit to New Zealand from 1-3 October, where he  will meet...

‘Vegetarian’ is the new buzz word from Hollywood A-listers to businesses and eateries popping up all across the country to cater for plant-based eaters. Although summer isn’t yet here, things are heating up with SAFE’s announcement of New Zealand’s Vegetarian Hotlist, celebrating the meteoric rise of plant-based eating, tying in...

Just in time for October’s World Vegetarian Month, acclaimed  director and NZ resident James Cameron, speaks at length about the  plant-based lifestyle he and his family choose to follow and about his  Greytown café; Food Forest Organics. The Vegetarian activist, who  recently teamed up with Terminator friend Arnold Schwarzenegger to...

Compass Group, the largest foodservice company in the world and one which has an arm in New Zealand, has announced they will only use cage-free eggs worldwide by 2025.   Compass Group provides food at over 200 locations in New Zealand and uses a significant number of eggs. This latest...

The death toll in New Zealand jumps racing continues to mount with three horses killed in three weeks, bringing the total for the jumps racing season so far to seven.   Twentythirtyfour was euthanised after he fractured a hind leg in a gruelling 4200 metre Steeplechase in Te Aroha on...

This week is a celebration of the big H2O, and rightly so! Water is one thing that the human body needs to survive; in fact,  your body is composed of approximately 60 per cent water, which serves  all sorts of purposes, from regulating your temperature to protecting  your spinal cord,...

I see that Countdown has just launched a new range of collectables:  Star Wars Cosmic Shells. But meanwhile they are making excuses rather  than taking action about another type of shell: the shells of the cage  eggs produced at the expense of appalling suffering inflicted on hens. SAFE  has a...

Following outrage after the release of new footage from inside a New Zealand pig farm, and criticism of the pig industry by the Commerce Commission, SAFE has published a spoof website about NZPork’s misleading marketing label ‘PigCare’. The alternative website, called PigScare, shows the true face of pig farming and...

New regulations on the treatment of bobby calves come into force today, with animal advocates calling the new rules mediocre at best. The regulations include some changes to transport and shelter rules for the animals.   The regulations created by the Ministry for Primary Industries are an update on previous...

Justice has been belatedly served for the calves brutalised by a  slaughterhouse worker, according to animal advocacy charity SAFE. The  worker was today sentenced to 10 months home detention and community  service. SAFE says animal rights groups can take the credit for the  conviction, as the cruelty would not have...

Kiwi children are demonstrating their passion and commitment towards protecting animals by bravely standing up to supermarket giant Countdown. From creating video messages to Countdown’s CEO to starting up a nation-wide petition demanding Countdown stop selling all cage eggs, they are making their voices heard.   At 11am today, two...

Animal advocacy group SAFE welcomes the greyhound racing bans announced by the NSW and ACT State Governments.  The bans follow a Commission of Inquiry report showing widespread and systemic animal abuse.   “The Australian bans are an enormous step forward in abolishing this  cruel pastime and SAFE is calling on...

Animal advocacy group SAFE is outraged at Government plans to  export large numbers of live sheep to Saudi Arabia where the animals  would be slaughtered under conditions illegal in New Zealand.   This weekend, current affairs show The Nation exposed questionable  dealings between our Government and Saudi business interests that...