What's going on?
OPINION: On the 2nd of May, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced that the 'government remains on track to ban full farm-to-forestry conversion'.
It follows the release of footage released last week which PETA claims to show shearers on a Lake Hawea farm leased by former American TV show host Matt Lauer kicking and beating sheep.
The organisation claims the farm is part of the New Zealand Merino Company’s (NZM) ZQ Programme. In a statement to media, NZM denied this.
NZM has also announced intentions to investigate PETA’s claims, urging the organisation to provide details about filming locations and the timing of the recordings.
PETA claims the introduction of webcams and livestreaming to shearing sheds would help farm owners hold shearers accountable.
“PETA is calling on the New Zealand government to mandate web cameras inside all of the country's shearing sheds to hold the farms accountable since the industry seems incapable of doing so itself,” says PETA senior vice president Jason Baker.
In a letter to Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Baker argues that the practice is essential for both transparency and accountability, claiming that real-time monitoring would discourage any abusive practices.
“To demonstrate true transparency and accountability, we call on the government to mandate live-streaming web cameras in all shearing sheds, including ZQ-certified farms across the country,” he says.
“The public has the right to know whether meaningful action is being taken,” he concludes.
