Animal Matters

Philip McKibbin's writing has been published in The Spinoff, The Guardian, Stuff, NZ Herald among many other publications. In 2018 he co-organised ‘The Politics of Love: A Conference’ at All Souls College at the University of Oxford. 

The Politics of Love is a radical vision of politics, a vision that can make a difference to the lives of animals. 

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The report, Farmed Animal Welfare Law in New Zealand, was commissioned by the New Zealand Animal Law Association (NZALA), with support from the New Zealand Law Foundation and Lush. 

Some background to the report, in 2019 SAFE and the NZALA, filed Judicial Review Proceedings against the Government for their failure to act on the on-going use of farrowing crates. 

In a judgement released last year, the High Court ruled that the Minister of Agriculture and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) acted illegally when they failed to phase out the use of farrowing crates for mother pigs. The traditional use of farrowing crates will now be phased out.

While preparing for that case, the NZALA found many inconsistencies between the Animal Welfare Act and subordinate legislation, like the Code of Welfare for pigs which allowed the use of farrowing crates. That prompted them to commission this report. 

Winter Grazing
The Government has deferred imposing almost all of its proposed winter grazing regulations for a year, a move that’s been met with scorn from environmentalists and animal advocates. 
 
Winter grazing - a practice where livestock are strip-fed a crop, often in extremely muddy conditions - has come under increased scrutiny in recent years.

In 2019, winter grazing hit the headlines when environmentalist Angus Robson went public with his campaign to expose what had been happening on farms across the country. The photos and videos of cows standing and giving birth in muddy paddocks prompted Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor to launch a winter grazing taskforce. 

The Agriculture Minister and David Parker, the Environment Minister, proposed a suite of new rules to improve winter grazing practices, which agriculture lobbyists decried as unworkable. They protested, and the Government’s latest announcement indicates that the lobbyists have won. 

Parker and O’Connor announced recently that they would allow the industry to self regulate for the next year, allowing Farmers to develop their own so-called ‘modules’ to manage their winter grazing practices. 

In a statement, Parker said the deferment will allow an intensive winter grazing farm plan module to be developed, tested and deployed ready for formal incorporation into wider certified freshwater farm plans in 2022.

Not everyone is happy about this. In fact, many people are deeply unhappy about this. Greenpeace Senior Campaigner Steve Abel said the Government had been ‘owned’ by big dairy, calling the decision ‘pathetic’. 

SAFE CEO Debra Ashton questioned what the Government would do to ensure the welfare of animals in the interim. 

Green MP Eugenie Sage said it’s a bad outcome for rivers and animal welfare.

Commercial fishing
Conservationists are calling for mandatory measures to protect the overfishing of Tarakihi. This was after the fishing industry admitted to breaking its promise to follow voluntary restrictions.

Forest and Bird said last week that Tarakihi have been fished down to 15 per cent of their original levels, well below the 40 per cent minimum level considered safe from overfishing.

In 2019, Stuart Nash, the fisheries minister at the time, decided to take a phased approach to rebuild the tarakihi population, making an initial 20 per cent cut to commercial fishing quotas, but then pulled back for a 10 per cent reduction instead.

But Stuff has now reported, in a briefing to Fisheries Minister David Parker, Fisheries Inshore chairman Laws Lawson admitted fishing boats were failing to keep out of areas they promised not to fish, putting juvenile Tarakihi at risk.

A report, titled The future of commercial fishing in Aotearoa New Zealand, was prepared by the Prime Minister's chief science advisor Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard. It suggested more needs to be done to reduce gaps in data and knowledge, noting that while we have a lot of data about the ocean, in many ways we also know frighteningly little. 

Dr Michael Plank, a professor at the University of Canterbury who was on the panel responsible for preparing the report, said the findings stressed the importance of taking a holistic view of the ocean. He said one of the things the report identifies is the need to move towards managing ecosystems as a whole, rather than managing individual species. 

Salmon farming

Footage of Compassion in World Farming’s undercover investigation and an accompanying report released on Wednesday uncovered the grim reality for many fish raised in Scotland’s salmon farming industry. Their findings were released by a global network of 40 NGOs in over 30 countries, including SAFE in New Zealand. 

Scotland is the third-largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon worldwide and exports fish to over 50 countries. The industry produced about 38 million fish in 2019 and the Scottish Government is planning to allow massive industry expansion by 2030.

Over 22 Scottish farms were investigated between September and November 2020 using drone technology and underwater divers. On several farms, investigators found severe sea lice infestations and high levels of mortalities. As many as a quarter of the fish die before they make it to slaughter.

The investigators also found fish crammed in barren underwater cages. Salmon are natural migrators, but in fish farming systems they have nothing to do but swim aimlessly in cramped conditions for up to two years. Compassion in World Farming is now calling for a moratorium on the expansion of Scottish salmon farming, with a view to phasing out intensive salmon farming.

New Zealand farms king salmon, not Atlantic salmon, but the investigation raises questions about how salmon are farmed in New Zealand. Broadly speaking, we farm salmon in very similar ways, and now that we know what’s happening in Scotland, there are justifiable concerns for salmon farmed in New Zealand. 

Geoff's work uncovered some of the worst examples of animal abuse in Canada’s dairy industry, and lead to prison sentences for the workers and fines for their employers. Some observers at the time described the footage as the most severe cases of animal abuse they’d ever seen. 

I was interested in talking to Geoff to hear his story about what he had to go through to conduct his investigations. He’s gained some interesting insight into what it’s like for workers in these industries and shared with me his thoughts on the fallout that resulted from those investigations. 

Live Export Review
Nearly two years ago, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced a review of the live export trade[4]. This was in 2019, following reports from Sri Lanka that thousands of New Zealand and Australian cows were suffering[5].

The review only covered the export of cattle, sheep, goats and deer. The review considered four options; a total ban, a conditional ban, new regulations to enhance the export system, continuous improvement (non regulatory)[6].

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said the Ministry for Primary Industries has delivered their advice from the live export review, and a document is with Cabinet ministers[3]. It’s expected a final decision will be made by Cabinet on the future of the live export over the next month of two. 

Live export revenue compared with agriculture export revenue
Last year over 100,000 breeding cattle were shipped to China, to the value of $255 million[1]. As a proportion of the $47 billion that agriculture exports is expended to bring in for the year ending June 2021[2]. Live export makes up about 0.5% of New Zealand's total agriculture export revenue. 

Live export lobbying
A spokesperson from South Australasian Livestock Services (SAILS) said "Customers in China paid a great deal of money for the livestock and had a vested interest in looking after them"[1]. Dr. John Hellstrom, former Chief Veterinary Office for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (Now MPI) and former chair the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee said the animals ended up in poorer conditions than they would have experienced had they remained in New Zealand[3].

Animal welfare laws in China
Animal sentience is not formally recognised in Chinese legislation. Animal cruelty is not explicitly defined in Chinese legislation. Therefore, there are currently no nationwide laws that prohibit the mistreatment of animals in China. There’s no legislation that prohibits slaughter without stunning[7].

Live export ships
The average age of the livestock fleet is 36 years, much older than the 20 year average for the global merchant shipping fleet. They’re also twice as likely to suffer a ‘total loss’ from sinking or grounding compared with standard cargo vessels[8].

Foie Gras
The UK is looking to ban imports of foie gras, which previously they wouldn’t have been able to do when they were part of the EU[9].

Contact the show: [email protected]

References

[1]M. Burry, "Live exports ban effects on farmers 'significant' - exporter", Radio New Zealand, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/438077/live-exports-ban-effects-on-farmers-significant-exporter. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[2]"Situation and outlook for primary industries", Ministry for Priamry Industries, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/resources-and-forms/economic-intelligence/situation-and-outlook-for-primary-industries/. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[3]M. Burry, "Live animal exports decision coming soon - Agriculture Minister", Radio New Zealand, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/437638/live-animal-exports-decision-coming-soon-agriculture-minister. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[4]A. Fox, "Live animal export review needs a close look at welfare in destinations: SAFE - NZ Herald", New Zealand Herald, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/live-animal-export-review-needs-a-close-look-at-welfare-in-destinations-safe/XGWFQI2NEENPLNWJOITQHPWFUA/. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[5]L. Knowles and S. Heanue, "'I have a cemetery, not a farm': Mass deaths of Australian cattle in Sri Lanka", ABC News, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-04/australian-dairy-cattle-sent-to-sri-lanka-dying-malnourished/10936258. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[6]Livestock Export Review, MPI Discussion Paper No: 2019/10. Ministry for Primary Industries, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/38036-2019-Livestock-review-discussion-paper-for-consultation

[7]"China | World Animal Protection", Animal Protection Index, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://api.worldanimalprotection.org/country/china. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[8]S. Kevany, "Exclusive: livestock ships twice as likely to be lost as cargo vessels", The Guardian, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/28/exclusive-livestock-ships-twice-as-likely-to-be-lost-as-cargo-vessels. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].

[9]T. Whipple and C. Smyth, "Foie gras will be off the menu after British import ban", The Times, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/foie-gras-will-be-off-the-menu-after-british-import-ban-xfh7qn57p. [Accessed: 12- Mar- 2021].