Christchurch Animal Save, a chapter of the global animal rights organisation Animal Save Movement, gathered to protest the controversial North Canterbury Hunting Competition yesterday. Within minutes of arriving, volunteers were approached by children and adolescents dressed in animal costumes with the words ‘Animal Slay Movement’ printed on them.

A confrontation broke out when Sarah Jackson, an animal rights advocate, was filming a young child dragging a dead cat around an obstacle course while their parents cheered them on. The parents, who were also filming the child, asked Jackson to delete the footage immediately, claiming she didn’t have the right to film their children. However, the Bill of Rights in Aotearoa New Zealand gives people the right to film lawfully in a public place.

Last year, the North Canterbury Hunting competition made global news when a cat-killing category for children was announced. However, after backlash, the category was scrapped and only children aged over 14 years were encouraged to kill cats this year. Children under 14 still participated in hunting other animals including deer, ducks, rabbits, pigs and possums.

The event organisers tried to justify the violence towards animals, claiming it is conservation. However, Jackson says, “There is nothing conservative about encouraging children to kill animals and people attempting to throw dead possums at us."

The protestors decided to leave once they were handed a juvenile possum by one of the children participating in the hunting competition. “The possum required food, warmth, shelter from the sun, and was highly distressed,” says Jackson. The group took it upon themselves to rescue the possum, resulting in children following the volunteers to their car while throwing rocks, trying to snatch the possum, and screaming that they were going to "kill it."

Jackson says, “The possum is now safe, fed, comfortable, and free from harm. It’s heartbreaking to witness the possum's behaviour that shows them looking for their mum, but at least they still have a chance at a life, which is important.

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