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Scoop
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
SAFE: Proposed Welfare Code Betrays Animals And The Law
SAFE is demanding that the Ministry for Primary Industries' proposed Code of Welfare for Sheep and Beef Cattle be scrapped, calling it a legal shield for cruelty that fails to meet even the most basic obligations under the Animal Welfare Act 1999. The animal rights organisation says the code legitimises inherently harmful practices - including mud farming, feedlots, and painful procedures like castration and tail docking without pain relief - while continuing to allow animals to suffer without access to shelter. "If this code is accepted in its current form, it would effectively become a manual for animal cruelty," says SAFE CEO Debra Ashton. SAFE warns that the code is not an isolated failure, but a symptom of a broken regulatory system that routinely favours industry convenience over animals' needs, experiences, and rights. "We've engaged in good faith for years, but this draft proves the system can't be trusted. It's time to draw a line," says Ashton. The organisation has written to NAWAC Chair Dr Matthew Stone, MPI Director of Animal Health and Welfare Carolyn Guy, Minister for Agriculture Todd McClay, and Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard, urging them to abandon the draft and take urgent action to address these systemic failures. "It's a betrayal of our welfare law and the animals it's meant to protect." SAFE's full statement reads: Proposed Code of Welfare Entrenches Cruelty and Undermines Animal Welfare Law The proposed Code of Welfare for Sheep and Beef Cattle, currently open for public consultation, represents a profound failure of New Zealand's animal welfare system. Rather than lifting standards or upholding the Animal Welfare Act 1999, this code would entrench practices that cause widespread suffering - including painful procedures without pain relief, intensive confinement in mud farms and feedlots, and a diluted shelter standard that puts animals' lives at risk in extreme weather. SAFE rejects the premise that this code provides meaningful guidance for compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. It does not. Instead, it offers legal cover to inherently harmful farming systems and practices that cause serious and avoidable suffering. For that reason, SAFE will not be participating in the consultation process for a code that attempts to sanitise cruelty. When animals are confined on mud farms, concrete, or barren feedlots, they are stripped of their most basic expressions of life - grazing, playing, resting comfortably, ruminating, and relating to one another. These are not abstract ideals, but the everyday needs of sheep and cattle. Codes of welfare are intended to support our animal welfare legislation -- not undermine it. If this code is adopted, it will set a dangerous precedent: where cruelty is legitimised, public expectations are ignored, and the intent of the Animal Welfare Act is effectively nullified. This failure is not isolated. In 2023, the Regulations Review Committee recommended a prompt and substantive review of how secondary legislation under the Animal Welfare Act is developed - and whether existing instruments, particularly codes of welfare, are consistent with the purpose and intent of the Act. Almost two years have passed without action. It must now be prioritised to ensure that regulation genuinely reflects the law and protects the animals it exists to serve. SAFE is calling for the proposed Code of Welfare for Sheep and Beef Cattle to be scrapped. The code must be rewritten in full alignment with the Animal Welfare Act -- not shaped to prioritise profit, productivity, or convenience over animals' wellbeing and legal rights. We urge the Government and the public to reject this code and demand a future where animal welfare law is not just symbolic but lived. It's time to build a system that reflects what the Animal Welfare Act already affirms: that animals are not merely commodities to be managed, but sentient beings with needs, feelings, experiences, and intrinsic worth. Notes The Ministry for Primary Industries is accepting public submissions on the Sheep and Beef Cattle Code of Welfare from May 14 - July 15, 2025. In July 2023, following multiple complaints on the integrity of codes of welfare, the Regulations Review Committee recommended a prompt and substantive review of the process for developing secondary legislation under the Animal Welfare Act.
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
New welfare code for sheep and beef cattle proposed
After milking the sheep are put out to fresh pasture to graze. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking feedback on a revised code of welfare for sheep and beef cattle. NAWAC is an independent group which advises the government on animal welfare issues. The draft code proposes several updates to minimum standards and recommendations for best practice, and includes a ban on using electric cattle prods. Chairperson Dr Matt Stone said this followed best practice overseas and few farmers used the electro-immobilisation devices these days anyway. "The majority of farmers no longer use this method, and we feel there are better alternatives out there that are highly effective." Among other key changes are the introduction of dairy sheep standards, which Dr Stone described as a "growing industry". "That's a brand new section in the code that obviously draws from industry experience but also apply sort of let's call them hybrid settings between some for the settings we might see in the dairy cattle code but then of course also related to sheep husbandry." There would also be new minimum standards for animals in off-paddock facilities and feedlots, and ensuring sheep and beef cattle have the opportunity to express natural behaviours. This included contingency planning, which Dr Stone said was especially "topical" given multiple adverse weather events across New Zealand in recent years. "[They] describe the responsibilities of farmers and people in charge of animals in relation to contingency planning for adverse weather events, but also for infrastructure failures such as critical infrastructure on farm automated feeding systems, these types of things , or a fire or other natural disaster." Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairperson Kate Acland said the draft appeared to take a "balanced approach" to ensuring stock owners ensure the welfare of the animals in their care. "Based on our initial analysis of the updated Code, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee should be commended for considering on-farm practicality, and for showing their reasoning, in setting out the standards that must be achieved." The new proposals take into account new technologies and updated science, she said. Pain relief during animal husbandry procedures such as docking or tailing has been recommended as best practice rather than a minimum standard, and the standards around shade and shelter appear sensible and achievable. Acland said some areas though may need a closer look, such as ensuring unweaned lambs being prepared for transport have been fed within a specified period. "As farmers, we pride ourselves on how we look after the animals in our care." In addition to seeking views from sheep and beef farmers and others affected by the changes, Dr Stone said NAWAC was encouraging feedback from animal advocates and the public. "We welcome a wide range of perspectives on the proposed changes to ensure the code is practical and delivers good animal welfare outcomes." More information can be found on the Ministry for Primary Industries website . Consultation closes on 15 July.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Feedback Sought On Draft Code Of Welfare For Sheep And Beef Cattle
National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee - Latest News [Page 1] 'The draft code of welfare for sheep and beef cattle proposes several updates to minimum standards and recommendations for best practice,' says NAWAC chairperson Dr Matthew Stone. More >> Animal welfare in rodeo practices report released Monday, 15 October 2018, 3:39 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), the independent committee that advises the Minister responsible for Animal Welfare, has today released a report on animal welfare in rodeos, together with advice to the Minister making recommendations ... More >> Have your say on new animal welfare proposals Friday, 15 April 2016, 3:05 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is encouraging people to have their say about new proposed animal welfare regulations, which went out for consultation yesterday. More >> Welfare of horses and donkeys the focus of a new code Thursday, 28 January 2016, 11:00 am | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee New minimum standards and best practice guidelines for the management of domestic horses and donkeys have been developed in a new code of welfare. More >> New code of welfare for rodeos released Thursday, 30 October 2014, 3:25 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee New standards to strengthen the animal welfare requirements for rodeos have been issued today by the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy. More >> Code of welfare for temporary housing of companion animals Wednesday, 25 June 2014, 1:59 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee New Zealanders are being invited to have their say on the newly drafted animal welfare standards for the temporary housing of companion animals. The proposed Code of Welfare: Temporary Housing of Companion Animals describes the minimum standards and best practice ... More >> Changes to Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare Proposed Friday, 14 March 2014, 12:43 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking public consultation on proposed changes to the Animal Welfare (Dairy Cattle) Code of Welfare 2010. More >> Changes to Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare Proposed Friday, 14 March 2014, 12:26 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking public consultation on proposed changes to the Animal Welfare (Dairy Cattle) Code of Welfare 2010. More >> Changes to Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare Proposed Friday, 18 October 2013, 10:36 am | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking public consultation on proposed changes to the Animal Welfare (Dairy Cattle) Code of Welfare 2010. More >> NAWAC 2012 Annual Report Thursday, 11 July 2013, 12:41 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee NAWAC provided independent advice on a number of high profile codes in 2012, with the Minister for Primary Industries approving three; the revised meat chickens code, the new code of welfare for goats and the revised layer hens code. More >> Changes to Layer Hens Code of Welfare Proposed Thursday, 20 June 2013, 12:10 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) is seeking public consultation on proposed changes to the Layer Hens Code of Welfare 2012. More >> NAWAC to Seek Further Advice On Battery Cage Transition Tuesday, 26 March 2013, 12:27 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee NAWAC to Seek Further Advice On The Feasibility Of The Intermediate Transition Steps For The Removal Of Battery Cages More >> Layer hen cages to be phased out Thursday, 6 December 2012, 2:23 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The most commonly used cages for housing layer hens will be phased out by 2022 under a new code of welfare issued by the Minister for Primary Industries David Carter today. More >> Animal Welfare Advisory Committee Annual Report Wednesday, 4 July 2012, 12:44 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The development and review of codes of welfare was the main focus of NAWAC's work in 2011. The Transport within New Zealand Code was issued during the year and the Committee finished deliberations on a review of the Meat Chickens Code and a new ... More >> National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee: Annual Report Wednesday, 4 July 2012, 11:13 am | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) issued its 2011 Annual Report today. The development and review of codes of welfare was the main focus of NAWAC's work in 2011. More >> National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee: Annual Report Wednesday, 4 July 2012, 11:12 am | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) issued its 2011 Annual Report today. The development and review of codes of welfare was the main focus of NAWAC's work in 2011. More >> Feedback sought on draft code for broiler chickens Monday, 27 September 2010, 4:05 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) has completed a review of the 2003 code of welfare for broiler (meat) chickens and a draft code has been released today for public consultation. More >> Feedback sought on draft code of welfare for pigs Wednesday, 3 March 2010, 2:16 pm | National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) has completed a review of the Animal Welfare (Pigs) Code of Welfare 2005 and a draft code has been released today for public consultation. More >>
