With surprisingly little fanfare or attention, the new Animal Welfare Act Amendment Bill has been introduced into Parliament. You can download a copy of the Bill and read the government’s statement behind it here.
As promised, it’s got more than just an increase in penalty for wilful ill-treatment.
Watch this space to read my review of the Bill in a few days time…
Interesting comment from David Carter, Minister of Agriculture – and responsible for the Animal Welfare Act 1999. Not surprisingly, Parliament is fast-tracking Simon Bridges’ Bill to up the penalty on wilful ill-treatment, but Carter indicated in this article that he would consider ‘whether [the Bill] should be widened to make the Animal Welfare Act work better’. Wow! Could be significant. Stay tuned…
There’s a lot to be angry about these days. Ever since a couple of lunatics decided to commit the ‘Wellsford Massacre’, by emptying their shotguns into a shed full of puppies, the media has been alight with stories about animal welfare. In one sense, that’s good. We certainly need to be paying more attention to what is, sadly, a prevalent problem. Nonetheless, there’s a lot to get angry about from the media coverage as well. I’m not sure whether it’s the media, the killers up in Wellsford, some lady calling me a dick-head, or a combination of all these things, but I’m feeling pretty steamed. Rather than attempt a coherent blog in this state, I’ll throw out a few points on the ‘things that are making me mad’, and hope it makes some degree of sense in the end.
Disclaimer
Before doing so, a disclaimer. I worry some times that people read parts of my comments rather than the whole. So let me state this loud and clear: I am not against punishing people who commit cruelty against animals. Far from it. I’ve done as much to try and get sentences fairly applied as anyone, and have written legal articles, drafted submissions to Parliament and worked with prosecutors to bolster sentences for animal abusers. It is, to be sure, a component of what needs to happen in order to have a country that treats animals better than it currently does. Nonetheless, as you’ll see from my comments below, I have serious reservations about the way this has suddenly become ‘the answer’ to our problems.
My Talk with Simon Bridges, MP
A few weeks before he introduced his new Bill to raise the maximum penalty for wilful ill-treatment to animals causing death from three to five years, Simon Bridges called me to see what I thought. I told him I thought it would do absolutely nothing for animals, and might even set back the cause. I think he was taken aback, as my position seemed both counter-intuitive and contrary to the ‘animal lover’ position. So I explained. The problem, as I see it, is not the maximum sentence for the single most serious crime relating to animals. A three year maximum, believe it or not, is fairly high by New Zealand standards. Sure, judges rarely impose the maximum, but that’s true for all crimes. Nonetheless, the three year maximum is not out-of-whack with other jurisdictions, and gives plenty of room to get jail time for those who commit horrid acts. Read more…
As more details emerge from what happened in Wellsford two days ago, the whole picture gets a great deal grimmer. In New Zealand terms, this was a huge story, splashed all over the front page of the Herald, and it has garnered considerable attention. Sadly, it says a lot about our view towards animals, and highlights some of the weaknesses of the existing animal welfare system. Incidentally, if you haven’t done so, it’s probably worth reading what I had to say on this yesterday, as I don’t plan on repeating any details of the case that I talked about then. But here are six additional things to think about:
First, the horrors of the incident should not be underestimated. When SPCA inspectors, who see plenty of awful things done to animals every day, are left speechless – it’s pretty bad news. The perpetrator of the act deserves the condemnation he’s getting now, and hopefully the jail time he deserves. Let’s be honest. That’s one pretty sick guy. Read more…
Depressing images from this morning’s New Zealand herald. The lead story on the internet version of the paper is entitled ‘33 dogs massacred in ‘rifle-killing frenzy‘.
I’ll let you look over the depressing facts yourself. I’m interested in the legal aspects of the case. Consider the following facts set out in the Herald – keeping in mind that the Herald ‘facts’ are not necessarily actual ‘facts’:
Yesterday, holding back tears, [the owner] described the sounds of his dogs being shot – sounds that echoed off the quarry walls for 20 minutes.
“They were screaming, making sounds dogs just don’t make. When one was gone, the others knew they’d be next, but they had nowhere to go.”
In all, 23 pups and young dogs, which slept in the owner’s truck, were shot, as were a male and female dog living in a van wreck and eight adult dogs housed in a kennel. They were shot through the grating.
Four pups hiding under their mother in the van survived, as did two other dogs the shooters didn’t see.
These six were taken to the owner’s workshop in Wellsford, but one later died. None of the dogs had been registered.
Pretty despicable stuff, all arising out of a dispute between neighbours over actions taken by the dog.
Almost is frightening is the last paragraph of the story:
SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge said two investigators had visited the property and would determine whether the dogs suffered before they died. A decision would then be made on whether to charge the gunmen. Wilful ill-treatment carries a penalty of up to three years’ jail.
Ummm… Bob, what’s to think about? Read more…
I won’t lie. I’m a HUGE Bob Barker fan. 
Most New Zealanders probably have no idea who Barker is – though you may have seen his cameo in Happy Gilmore, where he beats up Adam Sandler (apologies for the poor video quality) – but as a boy growing up in Canada, Bob Barker played a big role in my early life. Back when our television only picked up 3 or 4 channels – in the 70s and 80s – Barker was the host of one of North America’s most famous game shows: The Price is Right. Barker was an institution, hosting the show for thirty-five years. My grandmother – like many grandmothers – was a big Price is Right fan, as well as a huge Barker fan, and I have fond memories of watching the show with her as a child.
Of course, that’s hardly the only reason for my being a big Bob Barker fan. He was perhaps the first prominent celebrity to take up the animal cause, ending every one of his shows with a plea to pet owners to get their pets ’spayed or neutered’. But Barker went much further than that. He put his money where his mouth was, and unlike many celebrities who offer time and energy regarding specific causes, Barker’s focus has been animal law, with him correctly reasoning that we need lawyers who understand how animals are treated by the law in order to move the movement forward. In addition to numerous other donations to animal related causes, Barker has stimulated the study of animal law in the USA, and inferentially, around the world. From the ALDF web page: Read more…
Ah, holiday time is here, and for most of us, that means a time to feast. I’ve been feasting even a bit more than usual, as this year’s holiday has also matched up with my 40th birthday – which means it’s been celebrations a-plenty. At these times – in fact, at all times – good food is essential. Thankfully, over the past few years, making good vegan food has gotten easier than ever, primarily because of one woman: Isa Chandra Moskowitz.
Who is this person? Well, let’s look at what I’ve been feasting on lately, and it will come into focus. For my birthday, it was delectable chocolate mocha and also rum and raisin(!) cupcakes. Both earned rave reviews, but the kudos belonged to Moskowitz, whose amazing book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World was the inspiration. Of course man cannot live by cupcake alone, so we also had Lemondrop and Chocolate Mint Icebox (with real pieces of mint tucked in) cookies. Again, these were off-the-chart delicious, and everyone – vegan and non-vegan alike – dug in. These beauties came from Moskowitz’ latest book, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.
The Question: ‘What could I write?’
As a law lecturer who teaches animal law, it is extremely common for me to get questions from students about potential paper topics. Equally often, students make outright statements, along the lines of ‘I have no idea what to write for a final paper!’ Students often think that everything worth writing has been written.
This usually makes me laugh!
Zoos: Fun for Everybody?
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog on my personal web page discussing the uproar (pardon the pun) over the death of Dalu Mncube, killed by a tiger at Zion Wildlife Gardens. I was somewhat impressed by the fact that writers from across the political spectrum were coming together to agree that greater concern needed to be paid to zoos and wildlife parks. Just as importantly, these columnists were pointing to a much bigger concern: that the primary objective of most zoos is not conservation or education – despite the public bleating of officials to the contrary – but profit.
Today I was amazed to see a conservative columnist from Canada reach the same conclusion in the wake of a recent spate of tragedies at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta. Margaret Wente – one of the contenders for the title of “columnists I love to hate”, meaning that I read her religiously, even though I usually disagree vehemently with her views – of the Globe and Mail has posted a thoughtful and reflective column on zoos. She makes a number of excellent points, including the fact that elephants should not be in zoos – ever – and that the rush for profit puts animals at risk, despite the PR statements coming from zoo directors about the values promoted by these “living museums”. [As an aside: I've long wondered about the messages that are being supposedly promoted by zoos. My favourite is where people tell me that zoos allow kids to "think about our relationship with animals" and gain a new found respect for animal life. I usually point out that I'll believe this when they stop serving hot dogs and hamburgers at zoos. Why not giraffe burgers, while they're at it?]
Wente stops short of calling for the abolishing of zoos, but I’ll still throw her a rare “kudo”, for a solid and provocative column. Zoos tend to escape scrutiny from the mainstream public unless something goes horribly wrong. It’s important for society to understand that its not individual tragedies that are the problem in zoos. These breakdowns are just symptoms of the bigger concern: zoos themselves, being run “for profit”, usually at the expense of the animals contained therein.
I’ve now lived in New Zealand for almost nine years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen the word “vegan” appear in the New Zealand Herald – the country’s largest newspaper – in a positive light.
Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning to p A10 of the paper and see a good-sized advertisement with the heading “Great with chicken, fish and ‘vegans’. Peering closer, I saw a picture of Oxford Landing chardonnay, like the one above. The text states: ‘Vegetarians and vegans alike can enjoy a nice drop of Oxford Landing Estate. While many wines contain animal based fining products like milk and egg whites, we prefer to make ours without.’
Without question, it’s the first ad I’ve ever seen from a ‘mainstream’ company targeting vegans as a group. While I’m wary of drawing too big a conclusion from this, I do think it’s a very positive development. If vegans comprise a big enough purchasing group to warrant an ad in a major newspaper, we’re headed in the right direction. Good on ya, Oxford Landing!
On a related note, expect to see lots of Oxford Landing wine at my upcoming birthday party!
