Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
MPI has filed charges against an individual after receiving a video in June this year of a Northland sharemilker hitting cows with a pipe and other objects.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) manager of compliance investigations, Gary Orr, says MPI has done a full investigation.
“Six charges have been filed against an individual under the Animal Welfare Act,” says Orr. “As the matter is now before the courts, we will be making no further comment at this time.”
Hidden camera video showing cows repeatedly being hit with a pipe, a stick and a steel pipe during milking was supplied in June by the animal advocacy group Farmwatch.
At the time, Feds animal welfare spokesman Chris Lewis said the sharemilker should “get the eff out of our industry”. Lewis described the video as “shocking” and said there was no room in the dairy industry for farmers who mistreated their animals.
The owners of a Northland farm at the centre of a video also at the time said they were shocked and deeply saddened. The unidentified owners said they would cooperate fully with the formal investigation and the contract milker had been removed from allduties requiring unsupervised contact with stock pending the outcome of due process with regard to contractual obligations.
Animal rights group SAFE says it is pleased to see the charges laid but says that without proper regulatory enforcement, animal cruelty will continue to blight New Zealand’s reputation.
“The ministry in charge of growing and promoting NZ’s primary industries has a clear conflict of interest with its animal protection responsibilities, and the animals are paying for it with their lives.”
Two butcheries have claimed victory at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards for 2025.
A Taupiri farming company has been convicted and fined $52,500 in the Hamilton District Court for the unlawful discharge of dairy effluent into the environment.
The Climate Change Commission’s 2025 emissions reduction monitoring report reveals steady progress on the reduction of New Zealand’s climate pollution.
Another milestone has been reached in the fight against Mycoplasma bovis with the compensation assistance service being wound up after helping more than 1300 farmers.
The Government’s directive for state farmer Landcorp Farming (trading as Pamu) to lifts its performance is yielding results.
The move to bring bovine TB testing in-house at Ospri officially started this month, as a team of 37 skilled and experienced technicians begin work with the disease eradication agency.
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