Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: SAFE NZ
Farrowing crates, which confine mother pigs kept on factory farms, violate the Animal Welfare Act 1999, and for the first time in New Zealand history the Act will be tested in court.
SAFE and the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA) filed court proceedings against the Agriculture Minister and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in February last year. The court hearing is set down for 8 June 2020 at the Wellington High Court.
By filing legal proceedings, SAFE and NZALA wish to compel NAWAC and the Minister to act lawfully, to improve their legal procedures and to adopt a more robust legal understanding of their duties.
About half of New Zealand’s pig farms use farrowing crates. A mother pig will spend over three months of each year confined in a cage too small for her to turn around or nurse her baby piglets properly.
The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee has stated on multiple occasions that the use of farrowing crates does not fully meet the obligations of the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
SAFE is New Zealand’s leading animal rights organisation.
We’re working towards a world where animals are understood and respected in such a way that they are no longer exploited, abused or made to suffer.
Notes for editor:
– SAFE submitted a petition in March 2018, which was signed by over 112,000 people who all wanted farrowing crates to be banned.
– The Animal Welfare Act 1999 clearly states that all animals should have the ‘opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour.’
– The Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations 2018 state that sows can be confined in a stall for one week after mating (regulation 27), then confined again in a farrowing crate five days before they give birth and up to five weeks after they give birth (regulation 26).
– The Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations 2018 came into force in October 2018. They were reviewed and written under the previous National-led Government.
