$2m Anti-Factory Farming Fund Launched
MEDIA RELEASE
8 November 2010
$2m
Anti-Factory Farming Fund Launched
A
two-million-dollar fund is being launched today to challenge
cruel factory
farming practices in New Zealand in an
effort to stop widespread animal
suffering on factory
farms. National animal advocacy group SAFE
will
administer the fund and says the Animal Justice Fund
(AJF) will act as a
national watchdog for factory pig,
chicken and battery hen farms.
The Animal Justice Fund has
been established to promote animal protection
through
strategic litigation, public awareness campaigns and the
prosecution
of persons or businesses who commit offences
against animals on factory
farms or through commercial
practices.
The Animal Justice Fund is financed by former
Kathmandu founder and
philanthropist Jan Cameron. Ms
Cameron and SAFE are confident that the AJF
will have a
significant impact on cruel farming practices in New
Zealand.
³Ms Cameron is a passionate supporter of SAFE¹s
factory farming campaigns
and has, over the last four
years, donated more than A$35million to various
human and
animal-related causes in Australia and New Zealand,² says
SAFE
director Hans Kriek.
³The Animal Justice Fund
will enable SAFE to step up its public
awareness
campaigns and provide a strategic opportunity
to take court action against
companies who mislead
consumers about the origins of their products. SAFE
may
even challenge, in the High Court, welfare codes that allow
ongoing
abuse of animals,² says Mr Kriek.
The Animal
Justice Fund will also provide rewards of up to $30,000
for
information provided by farm workers and other
industry insiders who expose
animal cruelty that leads to
a successful prosecution or a significant
animal welfare
outcome.
³In New Zealand, no routine inspections of
factory farms are carried out by
animal welfare
enforcement agencies. This means that animal
welfare
standards are not properly monitored, let alone
enforced, and the suffering
of millions of animals goes
unnoticed. The need to encourage those who
witness
cruelty to come forward is more critical than ever,² says
Mr Kriek.
Ms Cameron has initiated a similar Animal
Justice Fund in Australia where
she has contributed
A$5million. SAFE is extremely grateful for Ms
Cameron¹s
generosity and willingness to help
factory-farmed animals in New Zealand.
³Ms Cameron has a
proven track record as an astute business woman and
she
will bring that same level of determination to the
campaign to improve the
lives of millions of abused
factory-farmed animals in New Zealand,² says
Mr
Kriek.
ends