By SAFE

Shakespeare said "A rose by any other word would smell as sweet", but how much weight does a name really hold? Last month, the Vegan Society marked World Vegan Month by investigating consumer attitudes towards ‘plant-based’ and 'vegan' terminology, and why those attitudes were held. This week, Will Appelbe and Courtney White discuss their reckons o…

Is the bell finally tolling for greyhound racing in New Zealand? If conversations and media stories with Racing Minister Kieran McAnulty are to be believed, the industry’s days may very well be numbered. After yet another horror weekend on Auckland’s race tracks, a ban couldn’t come fast enough. This week, Will Appelbe and Courtney White get back b…

The ‘end of the cage age’ has been a hot topic in New Zealand media over the past few days. Unfortunately, though the end of 2022 will bring with it a ban on battery cages, colony cages will remain legal. While they’re marketed as a ‘kinder’ option, what difference do these cages make to the lives of the hens kept locked inside them? Jessica Chambe…

Why do we consider some animals as pests and others as pets? Why do some vegans choose not to date meat eaters? What’s the connection between animal oppression and certain types of human oppression? This week, Will Appelbe and Courtney White are joined by Annie Potts from the New Zealand Centre of Human-Animal studies, to discuss these tricky topic…

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II has dominated the news cycle of late, so it's time to catch up with the latest (and not so great) animal yarns. Will fills Courtney in with the latest revelations from the greyhound racing industry and live export trade. The Jane Goodall Institute has made a strong statement in regards to pest control, and the Auss…

After a brief hiatus, Will Appelbe and Courtney White are back behind the mic's! This week they unveil 0800 EXPOSE, SAFE's newest programme aiming to assist those who have witnessed animal cruelty to report it, safely. They also discuss the call for McDonald's to address their stake in intensive winter grazing, also known as 'mud farming', and add …

Will Appelbe and Courtney White are joined by SAFE Campaigns Officer, Emma Brodie, to discuss a little-known practice taking place behind slaughterhouse doors across the country. They also discuss concerns about the response from MPI into sheep welfare on a farm in Christchurch, green-washing in bottom-trawling, the absent referent in discussions a…

Will Appelbe is joined by new co-host Courtney White, to discuss live export, the recent High Court decision on rodeo, and the SPCA's call to ban the long term chaining of dogs.By SAFE

Last week, the New Zealand Animal Law Association and SAFE challenged the legality of rodeo at the High Court. This is the second time the two organisations have taken the Government to court, and the results of that first court case has caused headaches for the pork industry in recent weeks. And a new Oat Milk chocolate causes controversy when it’…

This week we talk with Lynn Charlton, spokesperson for Anti Rodeo Action. Next month the New Zealand Animal Law Association and SAFE will be challenging the legality of rodeo at the Wellington High Court. In the lead up to the court date, we wanted to speak with one of the many grass roots activists who have been instrumental in exposing what happe…

Fishes are the forgotten victims of factory farming. This week we chat with SAFE Campaigns Manager Anna de Roo about the salmon farming industry, and how these animals are so neglected. Greyhound racing is back on the agenda, and the Government recently released its first Emissions Reduction Plan. While the plan has some favourable initiatives to a…

Greyhound racing is facing a new scandal, following revelations made by Newshub that indicate potential neglect and mistreatment at a kennel belonging to one of the industry’s most prolific trainers. The ban on live export faced a small bump in the road recently, but it looks like it will still become law in due course. And the Government is propos…

On this week's episode of Animal Matters, we chat with Abigail Penny, the UK Executive Director at Animal Equality. Animal Equality is an international animal protection organisation, and they’re most well known for their undercover investigations. Those investigations recently fed into a BBC Panorama documentary that aired in February, which expos…

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its latest report, and it’s not great. We have a lot to do. But New Zealand officials successfully lobbied against the use of plant-based terminology, which begs the question, did our officials miss the point? And greyhound racing is working harder than ever to improve their public appearan…

Live pigs delivered to your door. That’s what some businesses are offering in the Auckland and Waikato regions. The advice these businesses are giving to kill these pigs is illegal though, and bears an airy resemblance to a British TV ad that many considered was ‘vegan propaganda’. And the equestrian industry has been caught up in more PR disasters…

Christine Dorchak is the President and General Counsel at GREY2K USA Worldwide, a non-profit committed to protecting greyhounds and working to end the cruelty of dog racing.By SAFE

Today on the show I’m chatting with Irina Miller, Daisy Lab’s co-founder and CEO. We’ve talked about Daisy Lab before in episode 53. They’re a food technology start up based right here in Aotearoa, that seeks to use precision fermentation to make dairy products, like cheese, without the use of animals.…

Horse racing has managed to avoid much of the scrutiny that greyhound racing faced in 2021, but a string of recent incidents show that the horse racing industry isn’t without its faults either. And a last minute shipment from Timaru rounded out a bumper year for the live export industry, which is showing few signs of slowing down despite a ban on t…

Two years on from a power outage that lead to the deaths of almost 200,000 chickens, and we finally have some answers. But despite answers, we still have no accountability. And the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill that will prohibit live exports by sea is moving through a Parliamentary Select Committee. And there are signs that the live export industr…

A new Kiwi startup is raising funds to employ more researches on their quest to bring new dairy products to the market, but without milking a single cow. And COVID-19 is wrecking havoc on the events industry, but there’s a silver lining. It’s wrecking havoc on animal abusing rodeo events as well.By SAFE

Guy Fawkes has come and gone, but you’d be forgiven for missing it. The exit of The Warehouse from the fireworks market and supply chain issues has meant smaller retailers have struggled to meet demand. And the most recent New Zealand Trotting Cup in Christchurch was errily quiet due to COVID-19 restrictions. But the impacts of the coronavirus on t…

This feature documentary exposes the whitewash of Aotearoa’s multi-billion-dollar dairy industry. Amy and Chris co-produced the film, and it follows Chris as he travels around the country exploring the truth about how the dairy industry has become the nation’s biggest threat. Milked premiers in Aotearoa this weakened at the New Zealand Internationa…

Animal Advocacy Africa is a capacity-building program that supports organisations and advocates to develop and grow the animal advocacy movement in Africa. According to Animal Advocacy Africa, the continent is currently home to approximately 3.2 billion farmed animals, and given its rising population and urbanisation, a shift toward intensive anima…

This week, SAFE published and open letter to the Agriculture Minister, signed by oer 250 veterinary professionals, who all want a ban on colony cages. And last week, SAFE launched a new campaign called ‘fishes belong in the sea’. This is a new area for SAFE, so we’ll dive into what this campaign is all about.…

The Greyhound racing industry has had a double blow in the last few weeks. One of it’s race tracks is facing closure, and another potential new track has failed to even get off the ground. And Aotearoa has been silently battling an outbreak of salmonella in the chicken meat and egg industry. Now the industry is facing tighter rules in an attempt to…

Kelly started Free as a Bird in 2013, and since then the non profit organisation has rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed tens of thousands of hens, many of them rescued from battery and colony cages.By SAFE

Last week we bought you the interview with a former Northern Eggs employee, who spoke out about the appalling treatment of hens at the colony cage farm. Today we’ll bring you the latest on that story. And the greyhound racing industry is still grappling with doping and dog injuries, and now they want to build a new track at Christchurch’s beloved Q…

On this week's episode of Animal Matters, Will Appelbe speaks with a whistleblower who used to work at Northern Eggs, a colony cage farm near Whangarei. This brave informant put themselves at great personal risk to expose the cruelty that's currently occurring at the colony cage farm. This episode of Animal Matters contains graphic content that may…

Last week, in his capacity as Minister for Racing, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson gave the greyhound racing industry an ultimatimum upon the release of the greyhound racing review. It was a scathing review, and today we’ll take a look at its findings and what it means for the future of greyhound racing. Minister for Racing Grant Robertson’s …

This week on Animal Matters, Will Appelbe chats with Luiza Schneider, Vice President of Investigations at Mercy for Animals. Schneider is a former investigator, and now works with their brave investigations team to expose cruelty on factory farms.By SAFE

This week on Animal Matters, Will Appelbe recaps the latest from the greyhound racing industry, as well as an animal sanctuary's desperate mission to rescue animals in Afghanistan. Also, what to do if your companion animal breaches their bubble.By SAFE

It’s a quick episode today. We’ll discuss the most recent debate concerning the live export ban, as well as MPI’s most recent disappointing decision not to prosecute a farm that saw hundreds of thousands of chickens to suffocate in it’s sheds.By SAFE

Today on the show Will Appelbe chats with Emma Hurst, Member of Parliament for the Animal Justice Party in New South Wales, Australia. The Animal Justice Party is Australia's sole political party dedicated to animal rights, and Emma Hurst is one of two Animal Justice candidates in the New South Wales Legislative Council.…

Last week, the New Zealand Animal Law Association and SAFE filed legal proceedings against the Government for their failure to end rodeo events. We’ll cover the recent history that’s led to this landmark moment, and why these two groups are seeking a decision from the courts.By SAFE

In this week's episode, Will Appelbe sits down with Green Party MP and animal welfare spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick, to discuss greyhound racing, live export and the occupation at Pūtiki Bay.By SAFE

Sign the Free Hens From Cages petition.By SAFE

Today we recap the last two weeks, including the 50th anniversary of the Silver Collar greyhound race which saw a dog break his leg, and delays to the Government's announcement of the phase out date for livestock exports by sea.By SAFE

This week on Animal Matters, Will Appelbe sits down with Shanti Ahluwalia from the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS) to talk about Aotearoa's relationship with animal testing.By SAFE

The Waikato District Council are taking drastic measures to manage a large population of geese. Without investigating better options, they announced they would use poison, but have since had to make a U turn after realising it wouldn’t work. And Angela Turnwald, the greyhound trainer who’s dog tested positive for methamphetamine, is back before the…

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. H…

Last week, the Government released it’s annual budget, setting out what initiatives would be allocated new spending. Despite the deficits in animal welfare in New Zealand, not a single dollar was allocated for animal welfare spending.By SAFE

Today on the show we sit down with Aysha Akhtar, who is the President and CEO of the US based Center for Contemporary Sciences. Aysha has had an illustrious career in public health and is now putting her expertise towards ending animal testing and advocating for a transition to human-specific medical research.…

The racing industry has been rocked by doping scandals in recent weeks. Unfortunately, these people are escaping criminal charges. This week we dive into how the racing industry police’s itself.By SAFE

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 farro…

April has been a massive month for animals, both the good and the bad. It’s been a while since our last podcast, thanks in part to some of the announcements that have come out of the beehive this month. This includes a ban on the export of live animals by sea, and a review of the greyhound racing industry.…

Dr. Heather Hendrickson is a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Bioscience at Massey University, and the Vice Preseident of the New Zealand Micro Biological Society. In short, Dr. Hendrickson is an expert in micro biology, like bacteria, and how we treat that bacteria with antibiotics. You’ve probably heard the phrase 'antibiotic resistance' at least onc…

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…

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…

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;…