Summer Update

WORKING TOGETHER to make New Zealand SAFE for animals

2015

The End of Sow Stalls

The sow stall ban is the single biggest victory the New Zealand animal rights movement has achieved to date, and it came after a long, hard-fought campaign.

The highlight was a hard-hitting 2009 exposé on current affairs show ‘Sunday’ featuring undercover footage of sows suffering in their stalls.

This explosive story created a huge public outcry and led to dozens more media stories further exposing the suffering of factory-farmed pigs. Never before in this country was an animal-based industry so maligned for its treatment of animals.

The public response pressurised the government into announcing a five-year phase-out of sow stalls.

The success of this campaign proved the value of undercover filming of animal cruelty.

Harrowing images have the power to spur on public demand for action and get results for animals.

Since the phase-out was announced in 2010, pig farmers have steadily been reducing the use of sow stalls. SAFE, however, will keep a watchful eye on the industry and expose any farmers who flaunt the law by still using sow stalls after 3rd December.

The sow stall ban gives us confidence that with hard work and your support, we can continue to make a real difference for animals.

3rd December 2015 will be a date for the history books. On that day, cruel sow stalls - used to house pregnant pigs - will be banned forever.

Ban Rodeo Cruelty

In rodeo events, animals are routinely grabbed, chased, wrestled and roped in aggressive displays and can sustain painful injuries such as fractures and bruising, as well as suffering severe stress and fear. Horses and bulls are forced to buck, and young calves are roped and thrown to the ground.

The Animal Welfare Act requires that animals are not subjected to unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress. Causing animals to suffer for entertainment is both unreasonable and unnecessary.

Rodeo is a total contradiction of the requirements of the Act and it is only logical and right that it comes to an end.

Condemned by vets, welfare experts and animal protection organisations worldwide, rodeo is partially banned

SAFE has joined forces with SPCA and Farmwatch to call for a total ban on rodeo.

in Britain, other parts of Europe and areas of the United States and Australia. In New Zealand, rodeo is banned from Auckland Council land and SAFE says it is time the rest of New Zealand followed suit.

With this year’s rodeo calendar just getting under way, there is no better time to add your name to those of the 30,000 compassionate New Zealanders that have already signed a petition calling for a permanent end to rodeo cruelty.

Visit safe.org.nz to sign the petition.If you have no access to the internet, contact Abi on: 09 361 5646 and a paper copy will be posted to you.

Just weeks after the announcement of the new anti-rodeo coalition, Air New Zealand launched their new ‘Where to next?’ advertisement featuring scenes from rodeo events.

SAFE worked with Farmwatch to produce a video and wrote to Air New Zealand to make them aware of the significant cruelty to animals that rodeo involves and asked them not to associate New Zealand’s national airline with animal abuse, while many of you voiced your opposition by posting on Air New Zealand’s Facebook page. Five days later, Air New Zealand listened to concerns and removed all videos containing the rodeo clip.

Thank you to all of you that took action!

Thanks to you, Air NZ Ditches Rodeo!

Live Export Scandal1,000km truck rides in 30-degree heat, or of being certain that the animals will not be slaughtered in conditions that would be illegal in this country.

In a separate live export scandal in July, it was revealed that the government made a secret deal that involved flying pregnant sheep to a farm in Saudi Arabia. The disastrous consequences of this are also now known: 75% of the resulting lambs died from starvation, diarrhea and animal husbandry problems.

While live export for slaughter has been banned in New Zealand since 2003, export for ‘breeding’ purposes has continued. Following these recent tragedies, SAFE is calling for a ban on all live exports.

Update:

As our previous issue was going to press, we were notified that the largest cargo of animals ever to leave New Zealand was about to depart from Timaru.

The SAFE Christchurch team drove straight to the port, but were refused access to the ship. However, they were successful in bringing the plight of these unfortunate, terrified animals to the attention of the New Zealand public, in spite of the efforts of the industry to keep it quiet.

Very sadly, we now know that 444 animals died before the shipment reached Mexico – 252 on feedlots before they even boarded the ship. The fate of the sheep and cattle that did make it is impossible to track, and the New Zealand government has no way of knowing how many more died during the ensuing

Write to Minister of Primary Industries Nathan Guy at: Parliament Office, Private Bag, 18888, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160 to demand an end to live export.

For the animals, for your health, for the planet…

World Veg Month

As part of World Veg Month, over 700 people took SAFE’s 30-day Go Veg challenge to help stop animal suffering one meal at a time. On average, one per-son Going Veg for 30 days saves eight animals, meaning that more than 5,600 animals were saved overall!

But there is more: eating a plant-based diet lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis, and, as raising animals for food is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation, Going Veg helps to save the planet too!

Keen to take the challenge but missed out on World Veg month? You can still benefit from free recipes, advice on nutrition and tips for eating out, as well as access to a group for swapping ideas to help keep you motivated.

Visit goveg.org.nz to sign up!

This growing group of animal enthusiasts is constantly looking for ideas for how they can make a difference for animals. In response, SAFE has produced an Animal Activist Handbook chock-full of suggestions. Already some young activists have taken these tips on board, collecting signatures for the rodeo petition, fundraising at their school and making speeches on animal issues.

Joshua’s school was planning to eat at McDonalds on the way home from a camping trip. Joshua explained that he did not want to eat there—because of his compassion for animals — but was told he would have to, or go hungry. Joshua chose to go hungry. He wrote to his school principal about it and she fully supported his stand and was impressed with his kindness towards animals. She promised to talk to the teacher in charge of the trip and asked Joshua if he would like to write a regular item on animal issues in the school newsletter.

Young Animal ActivistsIn the past year, SAFE has been piloting a youth group for children aged 8-14.

Joshua (age 9) managed to stand up for himself and animals!

To find out more about the SAFE Youth group and download a copy of the Animal Activist Handbook, visit safe.org.nz.

Volunteer for Animals

Penny Wilson & Sophia Tinirau at the Christchurch Vegetarian Expo in September.

SAFE Volunteers are amazing...

Often juggling hectic lives; they still find time to represent animals at events, markets, expos and all kinds of busy public places.

Raising awareness of issues people prefer not to think about is a vital part of a volunteer’s role. Once people know the facts, they have the power to change, and every little change makes a difference for animals.

While the issues themselves are often depressing, it is not all doom and gloom! There are many positive and fun ways to get the message across - from giving away veg food samples for World Veg Month to collecting signatures for the anti-rodeo petition and dressing up as sheep to encourage people to support a ban on live export. Volunteers also attend training sessions, meetings and social events.

We can never have too many volunteers to stand up for animals, so why not join us?

Contact laura@safe.org.nz or call 03 379 9711 for more information about volunteering in your area.

New SAFEshopper Update

Welcome aboard to new companies: Artemis, Australis, BROWNALLYEAR, In Essence, Innoxa, Lust, Mode, MuLondon, NapoBIO, Orania Skin Care, Tease Botanix and WashBar who have just been added to the web guide and phone app.

All companies appearing in the guide do not conduct animal testing of any cosmetic or household product or ingredients. Nor do they sell their products to countries requiring it by law.

Visit SAFEshopper.org.nz or search the App Store for SAFEshopper Cruelty Free NZ.

SAFE is pleased to announce the latest update to our cruelty-free list!

We would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to our latest Silver SAFE Business Supporters - and SAFEshopper-listed companies - Ethique and Blue Earth. SAFE Business Supporters is a partnership scheme that allows the business community to support our work on behalf of animals.

If you would like more information, please contact Amanda on: amanda@safe.org.nz or 09 361 5646.

Colony Cage Con

As you may be aware, while battery cages for hens are to be phased out by 2022, they are simply being replaced by another cruel cage system called colony cages.

Hens in colony cages have a living space not much larger than an A4 sheet of paper. They cannot express their natural behaviours – such as wing-flapping, proper nesting and dust bathing – and often suffer from feather loss, sore feet and brittle bones.

Despite the fact that a recent survey showed that 9/10 New Zealanders oppose battery cages, three million hens are suffering in them right now and millions of their eggs are sold by supermarkets each year.

What you can do:

• Don’t buy eggs labelled ‘battery eggs’, ‘cage eggs’, ‘colony laid’ or ‘colony eggs’.

• Ask your local supermarket to listen to their customers and phase out all cage eggs.

SAFE wants to stop colony cages before they become established.

Your support is vital to all the successes achieved for animals so far, and for all the ones we know are to come. Whether through sending emails, writing letters, signing petitions, collecting funds, lobbying MPs, donating to a campaign or adopting a veg diet, as the huge success that is the sow stall ban clearly demonstrates: change only happens because of caring, compassionate New Zealanders like you. Thank you!

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On behalf of all animals in New Zealand: Thank you!