Animal Squad Members at Parliament

Friday, June 14 was International Awareness Day to Stop Live Transport, the perfect day to launch our petition to End Live Transport and hold a rally outside Parliament. Kind Kiwis travelled from near and far to attend. Animal Squad’s very own Lillian and Zara, age 12, voiced their thoughts on the matter:

Awesome work, Zara and Lillian. Thanks for showing the world that you’re never too young to make a difference.

What is live export?

New Zealand sells a lot of different products to overseas countries (for example kiwifruit, apples and wood). Live export is the sale of living animals overseas. These animals are usually sent on huge ships. Over 17,000 cattle were exported in 2018 to countries including Sri Lanka.

While on the ship, the cattle are kept in crowded pens. The waves can make them seasick and they must eat dry pellets instead of the tasty grass they love. The journey is very frightening for them.

To make the situation worse, many of the countries we export to don’t have the same animal welfare standards we have here. This means the suffering is likely to continue once they arrive. SAFE is campaigning to ban live exports so animals don’t have to suffer on these journeys.

How can I help to end live export in New Zealand?

Just like Zara and Lillian, you can help to end this horrible practice. You can sign the petition here.

Let your friends and family know, too. The more signatures we get, the more powerful the message.

Thank you to Zara and Lillian for your inspiring words and thank you to everyone who has already signed the petition to help ban live exports from New Zealand.