30 October 2008

SPCA forgot Govt's inaction on animal cruelty

The SPCA's list of shame, issued today, made for repellent reading but the real shame in New Zealand is that there had been no action to improve animal welfare in the last few decades, the Green Party says.

"The SPCA focussed on individual acts of cruelty to animals, but in reality hundreds of thousands of animals are treated cruelly - on an industrial scale - on a day to day basis in New Zealand," Green Party Animal Welfare Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.

"Hens and sows in New Zealand are locked in cages or sow crates where they can't even turn around and suffer all kinds of mental and physical injuries.

"It's a crying shame that the Government condones this sort of routine cruelty to animals in factory farming," Ms Kedgley says.

"There is an Animal Welfare Act in New Zealand, which stipulates that all animals should be able to express natural behaviour and be treated well.

"But the Government turns a blind eye to factory farming where animals are not able to express almost any natural form of behaviour.

"The failure of successive Governments to act to protect animals in New Zealand from cruel treatment should be added to the SPCA's list of shame," Ms Kedgley says.

Ms Kedgley says the Green Party is the only political party in New Zealand to have a comprehensive policy on animal welfare.

ENDS

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