WATCH: New Zealanders speak out to #ProtectTheBan
News
With your support, we interviewed concerned New Zealanders about the Government’s plans to repeal the ban on live exports. Here’s what they had to say about it.
Animals on a live export voyage are often exposed to rough seas, lack of ventilation, heat stress, injury, illness and sometimes even death.
Our recent conversations with people on the streets of Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington serves as a strong call to the Government of Aotearoa New Zealand to #ProtectTheBan on cruel live exports by sea.
Our conversations with members of the public made it abundantly clear that the people of Aotearoa New Zealand want to keep live export in the history books. Firsthand, we heard your grave concerns, which included “We stopped shipping animals live overseas for a reason,” and “I wonder about once they’re over there, what happens to them.”
Another individual remarked, “I don’t think it reflects positively on our values at all as a country. In fact, it just screams that we’re after the money.”
Together, we can keep the pressure on the current Government to protect the ban that safeguards thousands of animals from this inherently cruel trade.
We must urge the government to protect the ban at all costs. We cannot see this happen again, not to one single animal.
These ships have up to ten decks, so when there are ‘washdowns’, often with painful high-pressure hoses, the ones at the bottom of the ship will most likely be covered with the waste from the entire herd.
It’s heartbreaking to think about how cows are taken from a beautiful green paddock in Aotearoa New Zealand, prodded onto a truck, unloaded into a feedlot and then crammed into a live export ship.
These sensitive beings are often shipped to countries with little to no animal welfare standards. For animals going to China – if they survive the gruelling journey – they're forced to live in crowded, indoor factory farm sheds their entire lives until they’re killed.
In June last year, together, we joined animal groups and animal lovers from all over Aotearoa New Zealand to hand in the Parliamentary Petition demanding the Government protects the world-leading ban on cruel live exports by sea.
The previous government amended the Animal Welfare Act 1999 to ban live exports by sea after the 2020 Gulf Livestock 1 capsizing tragedy which claimed the lives of 41 crew members and nearly 6,000 cows.
More than 57,000 petitioners as well as many farmers, trade experts and business leaders agree that the current Government’s proposal to lift the ban is a regressive move for our country and animals.
Thank you for helping safeguard the animals of Aotearoa New Zealand from returning to the barbaric live export trade.
Together, we can #ProtectTheBan.
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Over 57,000 signatures to #ProtectTheBan
Thank you for raising your voice to protect animals in Aotearoa New Zealand from returning to the barbaric live export trade.