To create a comprehensive and effective Animal Protection Policy, a new legislative framework must be established. This framework should address animal welfare, conservation, ethical treatment, and the enforcement of laws to ensure that animals are protected from cruelty and exploitation. Below is a proposed structure for legislative foundations that could guide the formulation of such a policy:
1. Define animal sentience in legislation
2. Strengthen legal protections recognising animals as sentient beings
3. Propose a new legislative framework with positive welfare obligations
4. Constitutional rights for nature: advocate for legal personhood for ecosystems and species
5. Abolish the legal classification of animals as property and grant animals legal rights
This will be achieved through dialogue, research, analysis and solutions-based reform proposals to inform legislative and policy change and to enable greater political accountability and more inclusive and just governance.
Law and policy reforms will be secured to create an animal welfare governance system that is transparent, in line with contemporary science and public expectations, and focuses on the wellbeing and protection of animals. These reforms in New Zealand will have the potential to set a precedent for the creation of large-scale change globally.
