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 celebrates 20 years since the birth of its biosecurity detector dog programme with a giant cake at the Christchurch A&P Show today.
The birthday event took place 10am at the MPI stand. Ministers Nathan Guy, Jo Goodhew and Steven Joyce attended, along with two biosecurity detector dogs.
MPI purchased the first beagles in 1995. Two of them started at Auckland airport soon after.
"Detector dogs have proven themselves as a very effective biosecurity tool for keeping New Zealand free of pests and diseases potentially carried by arriving international passengers and mail," says MPI border clearance director Steve Gilbert.
"They can pick up seeds and plants that can be hard to detect by x-ray. They also screen people faster than x-ray, and their visual presence sends a message to arriving passengers about how seriously New Zealand takes biosecurity."
He says 2015 is a big year for the MPI detector dog programme.
"We're gearing up with extra detector dog power for a busy summer – both in terms of passenger numbers and the heightened risk of fruit fly, due to outbreaks in Australia and other parts of the Pacific.
"We will have 24 new dog teams graduate from their training in December. This will be the largest number of dog teams to graduate at any one time in the history of MPI or its predecessors.
"The new detector dog capacity will allow us to screen all international flights arriving in New Zealand. So we've come a long way since our humble beginnings in Auckland 20 years ago."
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.