$2 million Anti-Factory Farming Fund Launched

Nov 082010
 

8 November 2010

A two-million-dollar fund is being launched today to challenge cruel factory farming practices in New Zealand in an effort to stop widespread animal suffering on factory farms. National animal advocacy group SAFE will administer the fund and says the Animal Justice Fund (AJF) will act as a national watchdog for factory pig, chicken and battery hen farms.

The Animal Justice Fund has been established to promote animal protection through strategic litigation, public awareness campaigns and the prosecution of persons or businesses who commit offences against animals on factory farms or through commercial practices.

The Animal Justice Fund is financed by former Kathmandu founder and philanthropist Jan Cameron. Ms Cameron and SAFE are confident that the AJF will have a significant impact on cruel farming practices in New Zealand.

“Ms Cameron is a passionate supporter of SAFE’s factory farming campaigns and has, over the last four years, donated more than A$35million to various human and animal-related causes in Australia and New Zealand,” says SAFE director Hans Kriek.

“The Animal Justice Fund will enable SAFE to step up its public awareness campaigns and provide a strategic opportunity to take court action against companies who mislead consumers about the origins of their products. SAFE may even challenge, in the High Court, welfare codes that allow ongoing abuse of animals,” says Mr Kriek.

The Animal Justice Fund will also provide rewards of up to $30,000 for information provided by farm workers and other industry insiders who expose animal cruelty that leads to a successful prosecution or a significant animal welfare outcome.

“In New Zealand, no routine inspections of factory farms are carried out by animal welfare enforcement agencies. This means that animal welfare standards are not properly monitored, let alone enforced, and the suffering of millions of animals goes unnoticed. The need to encourage those who witness cruelty to come forward is more critical than ever,” says Mr Kriek.

Ms Cameron has initiated a similar Animal Justice Fund in Australia where she has contributed A$5million. SAFE is extremely grateful for Ms Cameron’s generosity and willingness to help factory-farmed animals in New Zealand.

“Ms Cameron has a proven track record as an astute business woman and she will bring that same level of determination to the campaign to improve the lives of millions of abused factory-farmed animals in New Zealand,” says Mr Kriek.

For more information contact SAFE director, Hans Kriek on 027 446 2711.

Photographs of animal cruelty on New Zealand factory farms or examples of SAFE’s new ‘Animal Justice Fund Whistleblower’ advertisements, that will soon be appearing in rural newspapers, are available on request. For more information visit: The Animal Justice Fund

Petition for Animal Welfare – Please Sign

Sep 132010
 

Please visit Your Petition.co.nz and sign this online petition, which already has about two thousand signatures collected manually last year, and is is now online.  Please disseminate as wide as you can so we can create an impact when the Bill is debated in parliament.  Please note that this is not Sue Kedgley’s proposed Bill but was drawn up last year after the Animal Rights conference.

Say No To Religious Slaughter in NZ

Sep 122010
 

Please support SAFE’s campaign to stop religious slaughter of animals. Act now – this is an urgent matter causing great suffering, and it’s happening right here.

Despite a recent law change making it illegal to slaughter animals without pre-stunning, animals in New Zealand will continue to have their throats slit without first being rendered unconscious.

Despite a recent law change making it illegal to slaughter animals without pre-stunning, animals in New Zealand will continue to have their throats slit without first being rendered unconscious.

http://safe.org.nz/Campaigns/Religious-slaughter/

Piggery owner fined over effluent

Sep 122010
 
Judge Dwyer said Kay had consent for his effluent to be transported from Foxton to Levin and dispersed on farmland there. The system worked well until April, when the company that was transporting and dispersing the effluent pulled out because it was no longer financially viable.
The owner of the dispersal site refused to let another company do the work, so Kay began filling two unused effluent ponds on his Foxton property.
When winter rain caused the ponds to overflow, Kay instructed staff to dispose of the effluent over a section of the property, despite knowingly breaking the rules and his staff expressing concerns, Judge Dwyer said. “There can be no dispute that this offending was deliberate.”
Prosecution lawyer Evan McCaughan said Kay had a previous conviction for effluent mismanagement at his larger 2000-sow piggery, south of Levin.
That piggery, in Kuku Beach Rd, made headlines last year when animal welfare organisation Open Rescue and comedian Mike King broke in and supplied media with footage of seemingly stressed animals. A public outcry sparked a review of a welfare code governing pig farming, which is due to be completed this month.
Kay’s farm was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing by government inspectors.

By MICHAEL FORBES – The Dominion Post

Judge Dwyer said Kay had consent for his effluent to be transported from Foxton to Levin and dispersed on farmland there. The system worked well until April, when the company that was transporting and dispersing the effluent pulled out because it was no longer financially viable.

The owner of the dispersal site refused to let another company do the work, so Kay began filling two unused effluent ponds on his Foxton property.

When winter rain caused the ponds to overflow, Kay instructed staff to dispose of the effluent over a section of the property, despite knowingly breaking the rules and his staff expressing concerns, Judge Dwyer said. “There can be no dispute that this offending was deliberate.”

Prosecution lawyer Evan McCaughan said Kay had a previous conviction for effluent mismanagement at his larger 2000-sow piggery, south of Levin.

That piggery, in Kuku Beach Rd, made headlines last year when animal welfare organisation Open Rescue and comedian Mike King broke in and supplied media with footage of seemingly stressed animals. A public outcry sparked a review of a welfare code governing pig farming, which is due to be completed this month.

Kay’s farm was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing by government inspectors.

NZ Open Rescue member in court this week

Aug 162010
 

Open Rescue member John Darroch will be appearing in the Hamilton District next week facing charges relating to an act of civil disobedience earlier this year. Please come along and show your opposition to pig farming in New Zealand. John is facing one charge of tresspass and another of unlawfully being inside a building for a protest where he locked onto a silo near Cambridge. This followed an investigation into pig farming which revealed shocking conditions in Waikato pig farms.

Open Rescue and supporters will be holding a protest outside court to draw attention to the cruel nature of pig farming in New Zealand. The rally before court will start at 8.30 and continue until ten. Supporters are welcome to stay and watch the trial after this.

If anyone wishes to come from Auckland and requires a ride please contact J Darroch

Thursday 19th August

Hamilton District Court – 116 Anglesea St Hamilton

For more information about Open Rescue and for information about recent investigations visit http://www.nzopenrescue.org.nz/

New Zealand Open Rescue

PO Box 37612 Parnell,

Auckland,

New Zealand

Online Poll: Do you think battery cages should be banned?

Aug 162010
 

The Code of Welfare for Layers Hens will be reviewed later this year. Government and the egg industry won’t make positive changes for hens by themselves. Consistent pressure from the public is the key to creating change. That means you!

Do you think battery cages should be banned?

Go to our website and participate in our online POLL to make your voice heard!

New Zealand Open Rescue
PO Box 37612
Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
www.nzopenrescue.org.nz

MPs Called To Support New Welfare Bill

Aug 092010
 
MPs CALLED TO SUPPORT NEW WELFARE BILL
Animal advocates from SAFE welcome the animal welfare bill drawn from the ballot at Parliament yesterday and say the bill could improve conditions for millions of farmed animals.
The Animal Welfare Amendment bill, as proposed by Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, would close a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act 1999 (AWA) that currently permits battery hens and crated sows to live in horrific conditions that breach the legal obligations of the AWA.
“The Green Party bill has the power to help over 20,000 crated sows and nearly three million caged hens. These animals are currently denied the opportunity to express their normal patterns of behaviour such as walking, foraging, nest building and mothering their young. Section 10 of the AWA stipulates that animals must be able to express their normal behaviour and the proposed bill will ensure this actually happens,” says SAFE campaign director Hans Kriek.
“Ms Kedgley’s animal welfare bill will see any practice that does not meet the obligations of the AWA phased out within five years. This will greatly improve the welfare of animals in New Zealand,” says Mr Kriek.
SAFE is calling on all New Zealand MPs to uphold the legislative process by supporting the bill.
“We expect widespread support for the bill as many MPs have already expressed concern about the cruelty of factory-farmed pigs and layer hens,” says Mr Kriek. “Now these MPs have the perfect opportunity to back up their words with action.”
“This bill has been drawn at a very opportune time. The public are outraged at the animal suffering on factory farms that they have seen exposed in the New Zealand media recently. SAFE believes the bill will receive widespread public support and hopes that the cruel systems used on factory farms will finally be banned,” says Mr Kriek.
For more information contact Hans Kriek on 027 446 2711.

Animal advocates from SAFE welcome the animal welfare bill drawn from the ballot at Parliament yesterday and say the bill could improve conditions for millions of farmed animals.

The Animal Welfare Amendment bill, as proposed by Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, would close a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act 1999 (AWA) that currently permits battery hens and crated sows to live in horrific conditions that breach the legal obligations of the AWA.

“The Green Party bill has the power to help over 20,000 crated sows and nearly three million caged hens. These animals are currently denied the opportunity to express their normal patterns of behaviour such as walking, foraging, nest building and mothering their young. Section 10 of the AWA stipulates that animals must be able to express their normal behaviour and the proposed bill will ensure this actually happens,” says SAFE campaign director Hans Kriek.

“Ms Kedgley’s animal welfare bill will see any practice that does not meet the obligations of the AWA phased out within five years. This will greatly improve the welfare of animals in New Zealand,” says Mr Kriek.

SAFE is calling on all New Zealand MPs to uphold the legislative process by supporting the bill.

“We expect widespread support for the bill as many MPs have already expressed concern about the cruelty of factory-farmed pigs and layer hens,” says Mr Kriek. “Now these MPs have the perfect opportunity to back up their words with action.”

“This bill has been drawn at a very opportune time. The public are outraged at the animal suffering on factory farms that they have seen exposed in the New Zealand media recently. SAFE believes the bill will receive widespread public support and hopes that the cruel systems used on factory farms will finally be banned,” says Mr Kriek.

For more information contact Hans Kriek on 027 446 2711.

Get Live Hare Coursing banned in Ireland!

Jul 262010
 

Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports

July 21st 2010
Lower Coyne Street,
Callan,
Co. Kilkenny,
Ireland

Dear Friends,

Following the recent historic ban on carted stag hunting in Ireland, campaigners against blood sports are hopeful that the Irish government will follow up this achievement by banning the horrific practise of live hare coursing, in which hares are used as live bait in contests between competing greyhounds.

Here is a link to a film of what hare coursing in Ireland involves:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFdjBy5S8k8

Thousands of hares are captured annually in Ireland for this “pastime”…to be chased and terrorised in wired enclosures for “fun” and “entertainment”. Many are mauled to death; others die of stress-related ailments or internal injuries after being released back into the wild following the coursing events.

Other hares, mainly the ones deemed unsuitable for coursing, are used to “blood” dogs as part of their training. This involves feeding them live to greyhounds. The greyhounds also suffer injury, ill-treatment, and neglect in coursing.

A decision will be made by the Irish government shortly (at some point before the end of August) on whether to permit yet another season of this barbaric blood sport. The hare-coursing season itself, if allowed to go ahead, would begin in the final week of September.

The Irish government is sensitive to outside opinion as tourism is one of our most lucrative industries, so messages from abroad can influence the decision.

Can you congratulate Ireland’s Environment Minister John Gormley on his achievement in banning carted stag hunting…a brief message will suffice…And ask him to now consider banning live hare coursing in Ireland?

You can contact him at: minister@environ.ie

Thanking you,
John Fitzgerald,

Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports

New Footage Shows More Pig Abuse

Jul 262010
 

Shocking new footage has emerged of pigs at the same Levin farm exposed by TVNZ’s Sunday programme more than a year ago.

The footage, filmed by Open Rescue who accompanied Mike King on the Levin farm last year, reveals stressed and injured sows tightly packed in crates or confined in small concrete pens. The grisly footage shows pigs suffering from a variety of injuries that include bleeding sores caused by constant contact with the bars, flesh wounds that appear to be gangrenous, bloody feet and a sow with a badly infected and swollen ear.

Watch the Close Up interview

International Action: End Animal Experimentation in Universities

Jul 262010
 

For years, PCRM worked to end the use of live pigs in medical student training at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. But we just learned that the school has replaced its use of animals! Your calls and e-mails to the school helped make this victory happen.

We now need your help to end animal use at Wisconsin’s other medical school—the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Please ask MCW dean and executive vice president Jonathan Ravdin, M.D., to replace the school’s use of rabbits, frogs, and rats.

One of the last holdouts among United States medical schools, the University of Wisconsin (UW) now joins the overwhelming majority of institutions that no longer use live animals to teach future physicians. During the first year physiology course at UW, medical students used to participate in laboratory sessions during which procedures were practiced on live pigs before the animals were bled out and killed.

Earlier this year, MCW also eliminated its pig lab, but MCW is still using live frogs, rats, and rabbits. Please e-mail Dr. Ravdin and ask him to end this animal use too. Ninety-five percent of U.S. medical schools have already ended their live animal laboratories. With your help MCW will be the next school to completely replace animal use in its curriculum.

Thank you for all of your help.

Best regards,
Senior Medical and Research Adviser John J. Pippin, MD, FACC

John J. Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Senior Medical and Research Adviser

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