Executive Summary

New Zealand’s main animal welfare legislation is the Animal Welfare Act 1999. Since the API was first published in 2014, the long title of the Act has been amended to recognise animal sentience for vertebrates, as well as some cephalopods and decapod crustaceans. 19 Codes of Welfare expand the basic obligations laid out in the Animal Welfare Act by setting minimum standards, as well as recommended best practices. To remedy the fact that the Codes are not directly enforceable, changes were made to the Act in 2015 to provide for the making of regulations which could be enforced. The Animal Welfare (Care and Procedures) Regulations were promulgated in 2018, outlining detailed and species-specific anti-cruelty requirements. These 2018 Regulations allow for better enforcement of low to medium animal welfare offending. These 2018 Regulations marginally improved pig welfare, notably by prohibiting sow stalls for longer than seven days per reproductive cycle and by mandating anaesthesia to be used during piglet castration. New Regulations enacted in 2016 continue the prohibition on the export of cattle, sheep, deer and goats (livestock) for slaughter unless approved by the Director-General of MPI, which in practice has dramatically reduced the live export of animals from New Zealand. Furthermore, the 2015 amendments to the Animal Welfare Act 1999 have banned the use of animal testing for cosmetic products and their ingredients.

However, there remains room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare. Notably, the Codes of Welfare are not legally binding in themselves: breaches of minimum standards laid out in the Codes can only be used as evidence to support prosecution of animal welfare crimes. Moreover, the Codes undermine the purposes and principles of the Animal Welfare Act, by providing defences to conduct contrary to the Act. In addition, the fact that animal welfare falls within the remit of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) indicates that economics is likely to be prioritised over animal welfare. Indeed, the MPI is primarily concerned with promoting and increasing exports, which conflicts with its animal welfare responsibilities. The New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RNZSPCA) is also entrusted with enforcing animal welfare. However, as an NGO, it has to fundraise to survive and hence it lacks extensive resources to carry out animal cruelty prosecutions, which ultimately leaves the vast majority of animal cruelty and neglect unreported. Regarding farm animals, broiler chickens are left out of the 2018 Regulations; it is still legal to keep hens in cages and to slaughter poultry without prior stunning. Confining pigs to farrowing crates is still legal. Other cruel practices are still allowed such as fur farming, the use of animals for entertainment – circuses, rodeos or greyhound racing, among others.

Animal welfare falls within the responsibility of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), with the help of two other agencies at the national level. The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) has been established as an independent body to advise the Minister and is entrusted with preparing detailed rules on the treatment of animals. Furthermore, the National Animal Ethics Committee advises the MPI on issues relating to the use of animals in research, testing and teaching.  NAWAC has repeatedly said its work is limited by lack of funding. It has made very slow progress on producing regulations and has a very limited work programme each year due to its lack of adequate resources. MPI’s monitoring of farms is similarly restricted by its lack of funding. In November 2019, one of the worst-known mass animal deaths in New Zealand history took place when 200,000 caged chickens died at a poultry farm after there was a power cut and a back-up system failed. MPI apparently was not aware of the catastrophe until notified by the media.

The Government of New Zealand is urged to outlaw cruel practices still occurring to animals in New Zealand. Namely, the Government of New Zealand is strongly encouraged to ban all piglet mutilations conducted without anaesthesia, and to outlaw farrowing crates altogether. Furthermore, the live export of animals should be fully banned due to the cruel conditions experienced by the animals during the transport process and the often inhumane slaughter of the animals at their destination. The live animal trade should be replaced by a meat only trade. The Government of New Zealand is urged to fully ban fur farming. Fur farming is inherently cruel and causes pain, distress and suffering to animals. Moreover, New Zealand is highly encouraged to ban the use of animals for entertainment purposes, which includes circuses, rodeos and greyhound racing. The Government of New Zealand is also encouraged to strengthen the current ban on animal testing for cosmetic, so as to include all cosmetic ingredients – at present, only ingredients which are only used for cosmetic products are forbidden to be tested on animals. In addition, the Government of New Zealand is strongly encouraged to appoint a Minister and Commissioner for Animal Welfare, and to allocate consistent funding for proper monitoring and enforcement of animal welfare standards. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.

Executive Summary

Australia is a federal country, whereby most of the responsibility for animal welfare has been devolved to States and Territories. Since the API was first published in 2014, there have been marginal improvements for animal welfare. The Australian Capital Territory has fully banned sow stalls, though there are no intensive pig farming activities taking place in the Territory. Importantly, in 2017, the State of Victoria recognised animals as sentient in its Animal Welfare Action Plan. A ban on greyhound racing was supposed to take effect in New South Wales in July 2017; however, this ban was reversed by NSW Cabinet ministers who only approved some additional changes to the industry. At the national level, the Government introduced a ban on testing cosmetic products and their ingredients on animals. The implementation of this ban has been postponed to July 2020. Furthermore, new measures and penalties have been announced in May 2018 through amendments to the Australian Meat and Livestock Industry Act 1997 and the Export Control Act 1982, which introduce penalties for live exporters who breach animal welfare standards.

However, there is room for improvement in many domains related to animal welfare. Animal sentience is still not recognised at the Commonwealth level. With regards to farm animals, the Commonwealth Government developed a series of National Model Codes of Practice for the Welfare of Livestock, providing guidance on various farming activities – from rearing to transport and slaughtering. These Model Codes cover various species – pigs, sheep, cows, poultry and goats – however, they are not legally binding. State and Territories have incorporated most these Codes into their legislation. These Codes leave wide exceptions to basic animal protections, legalising cruel practices such as the use of sow stalls and farrowing crates, piglet mutilations without anaesthesia and the confinement of egg-laying hens in cages, among others. Stunning is not required prior to slaughter.

The Commonwealth Government is aiming to replace the Model Codes with nationally agreed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines. The development of such Guidelines has been incredibly slow, with only four completed – for cattle, sheep, land transport, sale yard and depots – in over a decade. There has been strong concern about industry influence and conflicts of interest in the government agencies developing the rules. Additionally, wild animal farming and fur farming are still allowed in Australia. Australian legislation also allows for animals to be used for cruel forms of entertainment, such as circuses, rodeos and races. Marine mammals are kept in captivity and trained for entertainment.

Under the Australian Constitution, legislative responsibility for animal welfare within Australia is primarily under the responsibility of state and territory governments, which all have animal welfare legislation. The Australian Government holds responsibility for trade and international agreements, which entails live animal export trade and animals processed at export-registered slaughter establishments. The former Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) 2010-14 had established a national intergovernmental committee, the Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, made up of representatives from state and territory government responsible for animal welfare and responsible for the delivery of the Strategy. 

In late 2013, the Australian Government stepped back from leading any domestic animal welfare issues, as it announced the hand-over of the coordination and programme management for the ongoing delivery of the Strategy to the states and territories. The Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee also got disbanded. Since then, responsibility for animal welfare has been transferred from the Commonwealth government to the state and territory governments, which implies that animal welfare is not a crucial national issue. The then-Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (renamed the Department of Agriculture in 2019) commissioned Animal Health Australia to manage the process of developing the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines, through the Animal Welfare Task Group. In 2015, the Voice for Animals Bill, which recommended to establish an Office of Animal Welfare as an independent statutory authority responsible for advising on the protection of animal welfare in Commonwealth-regulated activities, was defeated. At the State and Territory level, animal protection legislations are mostly enforced by state or territory government officers, and through the RSPCA via inspectors authorised by governments.

The Government of Australia is strongly encouraged to resume responsibility for animal welfare, emphasising its importance as a national issue and providing adequate funding for policy development, monitoring, enforcement and education. The Government of Australia is strongly encouraged to renew the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy with an adequate Implementation Plan. The Government should also demonstrate its commitment to animal welfare by enshrining animal sentience into law for, at minimum, all vertebrates, cephalopods and decapod crustaceans. With regards to farm animals, the Government of Australia is urged to enact all the Model Codes of Practice into legally binding legislation. Farm animal legislation should prohibit extreme confinement, mutilations without anaesthesia and ban live export. Moreover, the Government of Australia is urged to ban cruel practices for animals, which include fur farming, wild animal farming and the use of animals for entertainment – in circuses, rodeos, races and marine mammal shows, among others.

Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.