Shelter for Farmed Animals

The Animal Welfare Act 1999, section 4(b) states that ‘animals must be provided adequate shelter’ and section (c) states that they must have ‘the opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour’. Animals with access to shelter will often congregate together under the shelter, exposing this as a natural behavior. However, adequate shelter and the opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour are seldom tied together in application, and there are differences of opinions regarding what adequate shelter is for each type of farmed animal as shown in this recent report by the Ministry for Primary Industries.1

Natural shelter available to rural animals has been declining over the years. This is largely due to clearing trees off the land where they reside. All over the country we can see sheep and cattle, including newborns, who have nowhere to shelter from the sun, wind and rain. Once the appropriate standards have been established, the long term solution will be to incentivise planting of appropriate trees for animals to shelter, and in the meantime we advocate building adequate shelters for animals in line with the stipulations of sections 4(b) and (c).

AJP will campaign for independent consultation of standards, assist animal guardians to meet the defined requirements, and ensure there are adequate consequences for guardians who do not meet these requirements.

Key Principles 

  • AJP will campaign for independent consultation of standards required to meet the legislative requirements and report any gaps between animal needs and legislative requirements 
  • AJP will campaign for legislative clarification of the standards required to remove confusion 
  • AJP will call for funding and expert advice to help animal guardians meet the defined requirements 
  • AJP will ensure there are adequate consequences for animal guardians who do not meet the defined requirements

1 https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/37655-Barriers-to-the-adoption-of-animal-welfare-standards-shelter-on-pastoral-farms

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