Animal Welfare – Government pushes cruel pig-caging Bill through its first reading – defying public will – SAFE

SAFE says the Government is dismantling decades of animal-welfare progress by changing the law to continue the use of intensive cages for pigs indefinitely.

The Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill, passed through its first reading yesterday, would amend the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to explicitly permit the ongoing use of farrowing crates and mating stalls – despite a High Court ruling in 2020 that found these systems unlawful. The Primary Production Committee is expected to report back to the House on 9 February 2026.

Farrowing crates and mating stalls are metal cages that severely restrict movement. The High Court found these systems unlawful because they deny pigs the opportunity to express normal behaviours as required under the Animal Welfare Act.

“This Bill is an assault on both compassion and democracy,” says SAFE CEO Debra Ashton.

“Every mother pig deserves the simple dignity of turning to see her piglets, to build a nest, and to rest in comfort. This Bill denies them even that – cementing cruelty into law with no end in sight.”

Animal Welfare Minister Andrew Hoggard has defended the Bill as “science-based policy” that “strengthens animal welfare” and reflects “compassion and practicality.”

SAFE says those claims betray the responsibility of a Minister tasked with overseeing animal welfare. The organisation also notes that the Bill was developed without genuine consultation and appears designed to bypass judicial scrutiny by rewriting the Act itself – a move that undermines the rule of law and the integrity of legislative processes.

“When governments change the law to make cruelty legal, every safeguard for animals is at risk,” says Ashton.

“This Bill tells farmers that the law will bend to protect industry, not animals – and that’s a dangerous precedent.”

Polling released by SAFE this week shows that three quarters of New Zealanders oppose farrowing crates.

The nationally representative research, conducted by Verian in September 2025, also found that 90 percent of people believe the Government has a duty to ensure welfare rules comply with the Animal Welfare Act.

“The public has spoken with overwhelming clarity,” says Ashton.

“Andrew Hoggard is parroting industry talking points and has no public mandate for these changes.”

SAFE has joined SPCA, the New Zealand Animal Law Association and other major animal organisations in signing an open letter published in The Post this week. The letter calls on Parliament to restore New Zealand’s 2015 commitment to phasing out farming systems that breach the Animal Welfare Act, rather than entrenching them through legislation.

“It’s not too late to change course,” says Ashton.

“For mother pigs, this Bill means a lifetime of confinement and misery. They deserve better, and so does every New Zealander who believes in fairness and compassion.” 

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• A nationally representative survey conducted by Verian in September 2025 is attached. Results are post-weighted to be representative of the New Zealand population by region, age-by-gender, and ethnicity.

• Farrowing crates and mating stalls are metal enclosures that prevent mother pigs from turning around, nesting, or caring for their piglets, depriving them of the ability to display normal behaviours required under the Animal Welfare Act.

• In 2020, the High Court ruled in favour of NZALA and SAFE, declaring that the minimum standards and regulations permitting farrowing crates and mating stalls were invalid and unlawful. The Labour-led government at the time initiated a five-year phase out, due to end in December 2025.

• In 2022, MPI and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee consulted on two options: (1) ending the use of farrowing crates or (2) significantly restricting their use.

• The 2025 amendments would instead permit seven days of confinement in farrowing crates (three days before birth and four days after), continuing use of mating stalls (up to three hours at a time, up to three times per oestrus cycle), increasing space for grower pigs (reported at 13.3 percent), and embedding these practices into the Animal Welfare Act such that they are deemed always valid, limiting judicial challenge.

• An open letter published in The Post on 7 October 2025 was jointly signed by SAFE, SPCA, HUHA, World Animal Protection, New Zealand Animal Law Association, Compassion in World Farming, Euro Group for Animals, VAWA, Animals Aotearoa, and Australian Alliance for Animals. The letter warns that this Bill will entrench outdated and unlawful practices, undermine judicial oversight, and erode New Zealand’s reputation for animal welfare leadership.