SAFE says the Government is making a mockery of due process by allowing just 14 days for the public to comment on major animal welfare law changes that will keep mother pigs in cages indefinitely.
The Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill has now been referred to the Primary Production Select Committee, which opened public submissions today but with a deadline of 23 October.
“Two weeks is nowhere near enough time for people to consider complex legal changes that will shape animal welfare in Aotearoa for decades to come.” says SAFE CEO Debra Ashton.
The Bill seeks to amend the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to explicitly permit farrowing crates and mating stalls – cages already ruled unlawful by the High Court in 2020 for preventing pigs from expressing normal behaviours such as nesting, turning around, and caring for their piglets.
SAFE says the short consultation period undermines public trust and falls far short of the standards of open, democratic decision-making that New Zealanders expect.
“There is enormous public interest in this Bill,” says Ashton.
“Polling released this week by SAFE and Verian shows that three in four New Zealanders oppose the use of farrowing crates, and 73 percent support a complete ban.”
“People deserve a fair opportunity to have their say, not a consultation window that shuts almost as soon as it opens,” says Ashton.
SAFE has written to the Primary Production Committee urgently requesting an extension to the deadline, so the public can properly consider what’s at stake.
“This is not how democracy should work, and it’s the animals who will pay the price.”