Last night, Sunday 19th October 2025, I got a message from one of my rescue buddies about an injured duck. The duck had been posted on their local community page earlier, and a community member was asking if any vet clinics were open.

A screenshot came through, and even though I was just about ready for bed after a long, exhausting weekend, I knew I couldn’t ignore an injured animal. I jumped in the car and headed to the spot.

I was nervous, rescues alone aren’t always easy, and it was that in-between time when the light fades fast, which makes searching in a park even harder. But I kept telling myself I needed to go and at least check out the situation. I could always mobilise the rescue team if needed (a group of us who care deeply).

When I arrived, the duck was in the exact same position as in the photo. That’s never a good sign. Without going close for a look, I walked straight back to the car to grab my cage and net, which were still in there from an earlier rescue. When I returned, he tried to move but couldn’t. He was lying in the cold, wet mud, so cold that when I picked him up, I could barely feel the warmth of life in him. The cold actually startled me. I used the net, though honestly, I could have just reached down and lifted him gently.

I tucked him up and placed him carefully into the cage. A quick look didn’t show any obvious external injuries, but something wasn’t right. I drove him straight out to Lil Quaks, about 40 minutes away. My petrol light was on, but none of this mattered. 

When I arrived, the legends at Lil Quaks were already up waiting for me. I pulled off my gumboots, exhausted and in tears, while they took the cage inside. What hit me the hardest was that the community post mentioned his mate was with him – I believe they were two boys. At the river near my place, I often see bonded male ducks, I assume brothers, and it’s always touching. When I found Harry (we name every rescue), his brother was right there beside him. I’d say he hadn’t left his side once. That loyalty, that love, hit me like a sledgehammer.

Normally, I can hold it together during rescues, but this time I couldn’t. Lil Quaks spoke gently, reassuring me as they lifted Harry and examined him. The good news: his wings were okay. The bad news: his leg was shattered beyond repair.

I couldn’t look. I couldn’t help. I could only feel the weight of what was coming.

Lil Quaks asked me to take him to the vet and we both knew what that meant without saying anything else. At that hour, only the after-hours vet was available, and they only do euthanasia. So Lil Quaks gave him pain relief and comfort. He was in visible pain by then. We wrapped him warmly, gave him cuddles, and I placed him back in the cage.  On the car ride, I played soft music and sang to him. I told him he was loved. I thanked him for being in the world, for his beauty, his calmness, his spirit.

Harry was peacefully put to sleep.

This morning, I woke up heavy. It always hurts so much. This is the reality of rescue. I always dream I could win lotto, just so I could open a vet hospital that treated wildlife – all wildlife. When we do so much harm to animals, it feels only right to also care for them. I went back to the site, and his brother was still there. I tried to talk to him and left food. I’ll go back tomorrow to check again. I don’t know what happened to Harry or how long he’d been suffering, but what I do know is that the bond between those two boys was real and strong. When one was in pain, the other stayed,  close, loyal, loving.

And yet, people still shoot these incredible beings for sport. For fun. How can anyone see what I saw, that connection, that devotion,  and still believe these lives are disposable?

Over the weekend, I also had another little encounter. A tiny sparrow flew into the window at a BP station. I just happened to be there, not my usual petrol stop, but clearly, I was meant to be. She lay still and breathing fast, shocked. I held her in my hand for about 30 minutes, letting her calm and recover, even though it made me late to pick up some ducklings.

As I sat there, I could hear other sparrows chirping nearby, maybe her parents. She slowly opened her eyes, her breathing steadied, and I knew she’d be okay. I took her around the side of the station, and at first, she wouldn’t leave my hand. Eventually, she flew up to the roof and perched there, safe.

Her eyes were so beautiful.

Every encounter with birds reminds me of their intelligence, their personalities, their beauty. Each one is an individual. I am unsure why we shoot them, hit them with our cars, ruin their habitats, and manage their population. But I do know this, love is contagious. And the more we see each bird as who they are, the harder it becomes to harm them.

I feel so blessed to meet them.

Fly free, Harry. I’m sorry you were not saved. 💛

Danette Wereta is a wildlife rescuer and blogger. She is the General Secretary of the Animal Justice Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Eddie Mah is an animal activist and digital creator, based in America

When we look around us, we see the devastation humans have caused. We realise that we are destroying the very world that gave us life.  It is a devastating realisation.

But there is a simple solution to this, and that solution is to choose veganism.  Veganism is not a diet. It is a moment in time when love and logic finally meet, when we return to balance, to living in harmony with ourselves, the earth, and with every being who lives and breathes upon it.

🐾Vegan, because Animals matter

Every animal feels fear, joy, pain, love. Every animal wants to live, just like humans do. Their eyes ask us for mercy, and we respond by turning away. Leo Tolstoy said, “As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.” Veganism ends violence towards animals, and this will be the beginning of peace on Earth.

We are not masters of creation. We are part of it. Every creature that breathes belongs here. None exists to suffer for our pleasure. When we see other animals as family, we awaken. When we harm others, we break the circle of life.  To be human is to be kind. Not powerful. Not dominant. Kind. As long as we kill the innocent, we kill what is human in ourselves. Veganism restores our humanity.

 🦚 💧🌧  Vegan, because The Environment matters

Veganism gives the oceans their breath back. Every second breath we take comes from the sea, yet we fill it with blood and plastic. Fishing nets we leave there strangle billions, and dead zones spread where life once danced. As Oceanographer Sylvia Earle said: “No water, no life. No blue, no green.”

Vegan, because Forests matter.  Forests are the lungs of the planet. They gift us air, medicine, and peace. But daily they burn, to make room for animal feed. Every burger costs trees, birds, and futures. But when we eat plants, the forests breathe again, and so do we.

Vegan, because our soil matters. The ground beneath us is alive. It holds roots, rain, and renewal. Animal agriculture kills that life, while plant agriculture restores it. Healthy soil is the foundation of every healthy tomorrow.

Vegan, because water matters. Water is sacred. Yet billions of gallons vanish daily to raise animals for food. It takes 2,500 gallons to make one pound of beef; only 25 to grow a pound of potatoes. Veganism is how we share water — with people, animals, and the Earth itself.

Vegan, because Air Quality Matters. The air carries our actions. Methane, ammonia, and sorrow rise from every slaughterhouse. Animal agriculture pollutes the very breath of life. Veganism clears the sky, and heals the wind itself.

Mother Earth gives us everything. Air. Water. Forests. Beauty.  We take what she offers endlessly. Veganism is how we finally say thank you.  It is how we return what we’ve borrowed. It is how we begin again.

🦅🐼🐜🦋🐔 Vegan, because Species Diversity matters

Life is balance. Every being has a purpose. But when one species dominates, others vanish. Veganism protects the harmony evolution created. It honours the ancient code of coexistence.

☀️ Vegan, because Compassion and Conscience matter

Veganism is the truth that frees us all.  Truth hurts before it heals; it shows what comfort and complacency hide. Slaughterhouses are not farms. They are wounds upon the Earth. As Gandhi said, “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”

Compassion is not weakness. It is strength without cruelty, love without conditions. Albert Schweitzer said, “Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.” Veganism is that extension. It is love in motion.  We all know right from wrong, yet culture tries to make us forget. But the voice of conscience never dies; when we silence it, we suffer, when we honour it, we evolve. Veganism is conscience made visible.

👨‍👩‍👧 Vegan, because People matter

Every child is born kind. They reach to hug, not to harm. But society teaches them to turn away from suffering. Veganism protects their innocence.  Veganism also protects our health.  Our bodies were designed to heal; plants give them the power to do it. Plant-based foods lower cholesterol, reverse disease, and extend life. When we eat compassion, we radiate vitality. When we stop eating pain, we begin to live. Our children deserve more than excuses. They deserve a living planet.

☀️Vegan, because Evolution matters

True evolution is not about technology, but about empathy. It is learning to live without killing. We evolve not when we conquer, but when we care. Veganism is the rise of moral intelligence.

🔮Vegan, because our Future matters

The future is not far away, and is being written today.  It is being written by what we consume. Every animal meal steals hope. Every vegan meal restores hope and bestows health.   When we align with compassion, peace follows naturally. When we align with cruelty, chaos reigns.

Veganism is alignment with life itself. Peace is not found in words, but in choices. We cannot eat violence and expect serenity. We cannot harm the innocent and call ourselves peaceful. Peace begins when we set down the knife. Peace begins on the plate.

🧘‍♀️🥗🍎🌱🔆

Veganism is our Moment of Truth. Somewhere tonight, a mother cow cries for her stolen child. Somewhere, a forest burns to feed our denial. Somewhere, a child prays for clean water.  All these cries echo as one. We can silence them all, for good and for ever by realising that everything is connected – every drop, every breath, every being – and by living with love.

Chief Seattle said, “Whatever we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves.”

All life matters.  Oceans matter. Forests matter. The soil matters. Compassion matters. Conscience matters. Water, children, truth, peace, and humanity — they all matter.

Veganism is the language of the soul. It is Oneness made visible. Veganism is the answer, because everything sacred depends on it.

• Go vegan.
• Live harmlessly.
• Be the evolution.
• The future of love begins on your plate.

With 6 thoroughbred deaths on New Zealand tracks in the last six weeks, and 46 horses injured, we’re turning the spotlight again on horseracing.  Those who campaign hard for the end of this cruel ‘sport’, including Elin Arbez, hear the same comments over and again from those who defend this Industry.  This is her response.

Elin is an animal rights advocate who works in the Healthcare Industry. 

Often when I post about horse racing, the same barrage of repetitive, inane comments gallop in from industry members and defenders. If I spent my time and energy replying to each comment individually, my brain cells might deplete to the point where I actually start enjoying horse racing myself. So, to preserve what’s left of my sanity, I’ve compiled this guide to the most Frequently Asserted Nonsense that we’re constantly subjected to.

“Horses love to race”

“This is what they’re bred to do”

 

“It’s tradition”

 

“They wouldn’t exist without racing”

 

“What would happen to all the horses if racing stopped?”

 

“Injuries and deaths are no different than those that happen in human sports”

 

“We love our horses”

 

“You’re scaring the horses by protesting”

“Get a job/Get a life”

“Protesting is not effective”

“You’ll never stop it”

“There are bigger problems in the world”

There is no excuse for animal abuse.  For more information on what really lies behind the Horseracing Industry go to http://horseracingkills.com

I was called by Lil Quaks to say that a swan had been reported at Pegasus (in Canterbury) with a broken wing and it looked like an old injury. Lil Quaks and my team of volunteers often join up for rescues. A bit of fate brought us together, and I love them to bits. They are the only ones I know who are out on the front line doing the rescues, just like me. But they also offer refuge for animals who need recovery time or a permanent safe place if they cannot return to the wild. We make a good team, with animals being our priority.

Birds have tiny bones, so fast healing time. Given that, I reassured the team that since there was no open wound seen, the injury might already be healed, and it was a good sign he had survived so far. I said we needed to observe him first, as it’s not always best to rush in and take a bird without that time for proper assessment.

I finally got there myself on Sunday, 5 October 2025. The rain was horizontal, the cold cut through, and it was miserable. As soon as I saw him on the water across the lake, I knew. I felt my breath taken away, and the stinging start. His position told me everything. I watched him constantly jerk and preen his wing, a sign I have seen before. It confirmed my fears.

Everyone was saying we might have to come back later in the week as he was not interested in approaching us and he was out on the water. Swans are super nosey and come up to you, which is helpful with rescues (not like geese!), so that wasn’t a good sign. Usually, we cannot rescue a bird while it is still in the water (way too fast and smart!), and with this weather, it was unlikely he would come up on land. But deep down, I felt sick. I could not go home and sleep knowing he was there suffering, constantly picking at himself violently. 

He eventually came up to the water’s edge but would not accept any food. I got a good look at him then. He was half the size his body should have been, and when he turned, I saw the gunshot wound. I knew then. I confirmed it and set my intention. We would not be leaving him behind.

I set off home to get kayaks and call in more people. Numbers help in bird rescues. But halfway there, we got a call to say he had come up further onto the land. We raced back. Some amazing community members came out to help, and together we did the trusted circle capture, forming a wide ring to gently cut off his escape to the water and bring him safely in.

We did it. He was safe.

Jess, one of my favourite animal rescuers, did an incredible job. Her heart and determination are unmatched. She never gives up. She is strong, smart, and full of empathy. We got him into a cage, and Lil Quaks took him home where he was safe, warm, and medicated.

He had the most wise, regal energy. I felt deeply connected to him.

At the vet today, the outcome was not what we hoped. We pushed for his wing to be amputated, but his feet had severe bumblefoot. I had not heard of it before, but it happens when a bird is grounded and all the pressure goes onto its feet. It was too advanced to heal and he would always have it. Lil Quaks named him Rasputin, the perfect name for a mysterious and powerful being. And today, Rasputin went to sleep.

After what I imagine were weeks of extreme suffering, he finally had love, warmth, and care from humans. Not all of us are cruel. I am so sorry, Rasputin.

I believe his mate was probably shot too, and perhaps he was the one who got away.

It makes me sick to know that someone did this for fun. For sport. For entertainment. Swans are the King & Queen of birds –  magnificent, beautiful, and strong, shot from the sky for no reason. The pain and suffering he endured breaks my heart.

After a rescue like this, I carry the pain for days. I guess it never really goes away, but I learn to sit with it and hold it gently in my heart. I cry and hide under blankets, wishing all the awfulness in the world did not exist. But it does. We live in a world where we bicker about personhood and legal rights and all the while, things like this happen. Rasputin is killed for fun and is left to suffer. And while people were so upset and outraged this happened to Rasputin (the comments online show the love for him), they still don’t make the connection that this happens all the time, we actually have seasons for it. We promote it. We make jokes about it. We create a culture around it. 

I am so sorry Rasputin.

May Safely Graze contributor Danette Wereta is the General Secretary of the Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand, an experienced senior leader, and co-founder of a newly established animal charity. She is currently studying animal law and ethics and spends time rescuing injured wildlife.

When I heard about the upcoming Canada goose cull at Molesworth, I felt that sick feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Not just because hundreds, even thousands, of geese will be shot down in the name of “pest control,” but because I know these birds as individuals. I know their intelligence, their devotion to family, their courage, and their grief. I know this because of the young Canada goose I came to call Grace.

In early 2023, my life changed forever.

I was out walking my dogs when I came across her. I noticed she was sitting strangely, and when I looked closer, I realised her wing was severely broken. Since then, I seem to always notice birds sitting strangely, or not looking quite right. Often an injury is not visible, but if they catch my attention I always stop. Always.

Near to Grace were her parents, loving, vigilant, and protective. They never left her side through the whole rescue. Her dad was always on watch, quickly ushering the family away whenever we came too close. They recognised us when we arrived each day to attempt to help Grace, and they did everything they could to protect their little one.

For a week, I poured myself into trying to save Grace. I researched, made calls, and found people willing to help. The rescue effort grew, kind strangers joined in, kayaks were launched, and large nets were bought. Every attempt showed us just how quick, intelligent, and resourceful geese are. Even injured, Grace outsmarted us more than once. I joked that I now understood the saying ‘wild goose chase….’

One day, with teamwork and determination, we managed to capture her safely. She spent the night tucked up warm in a barn, loved and cared for. The next morning she went to the vet, but her injury was too severe, the infection too advanced. We were told that the kindest thing was to let her go. Deeply saddened, I wanted to give her a name. I chose Grace, to convey her beauty, elegance, poise, and her kind, gentle, and stoic nature.

Grace never made it back to her parents, who we knew would be grieving the loss of their child. Her life was short, but her impact on mine has been profound. It was Grace who set me on the path of rescue, a path I am still walking. Even now, I talk to her in spirit, and she will always occupy a place in my heart.

Grace

Grace is why the Molesworth cull is unbearable to me.

The official line is that Canada geese eat too much pasture, taking food from sheep. But this conflict only exists because humans brought them here, and because we farm sheep in the first place. It’s not the geese who created the problem, it’s us. Killing them doesn’t solve it. The geese just breed more, and the cycle of violence continues, season after season.

The truth is that geese are intelligent, family-oriented beings who mate for life, mourn their dead, and fiercely protect their young. They are not ‘pests’, a word I dislike intensely. Animals we brand this way are not ‘nuisances’; they are living creatures with feelings, desires, and experiences.  Along my local river, duckling season sees a lot of sadness, with many babies not surviving, for various reasons. One day you might see several ducklings swimming alongside their mum, the next day there are only two.  But this is not the case with geese. They basically run a nursery – keeping all the babes together, safe and loved. It’s quite the sight to see, especially when they run a special road crossing and all the babies, of different ages, waddle past.

There is no need for violence to manage populations.  There are alternatives to culling that are proven, humane, and effective. Other countries have used non-lethal methods, for example laser deterrents, with great success. These approaches are efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Shooting sprees are not.

When I comment, politely and with compassion, on posts relating to geese culls,  it’s always the same. I’m met with replies like “geese taste nice” or “they’re vermin”, and, of course, I get lots of laughing emojis.  You can see from their profile pictures that many of those leaving such comments are hunters, often proudly displaying the animals they’ve killed. How do people reach the point where bragging about being cruel and killing animals for a pastime is seen not only as acceptable, but also funny?

When I point out the cruelty, the reactions I get – mockery, anger, or doubling down – are also predictable, a mix of cognitive dissonance and identity protection. Many hunters don’t want to see themselves as cruel, and their discomfort is deflected outward. Mocking animals as “vermin” or joking about killing becomes a defense mechanism, a way to laugh off the unease. It also reinforces their in-group identity, because by ridiculing compassion, they reassure themselves they’re on the “right side.” In truth, their hostility just shows how deeply normalised cruelty to animals is, and how threatening empathy is to a mindset built on dominance and control.

When I think of Grace, I remember her parents’ courage and devotion. Every goose shot at Molesworth has a family like that. Every one of them is ‘someone’, not ‘something’.

The “magic of Molesworth” isn’t in the cruel, destructive hunt. It’s in the lives of the beings who call it home. And if we truly respected that magic, we wouldn’t be pointing guns at it.

Fly free, Grace. You started me on this journey, and I will keep speaking of you.

May Safely Graze contributor Wendy Ward is a retired clinical psychologist and university lecturer in the UK and New Zealand.  “Until I lived in the King Country and was surrounded by dairy farms, I had swallowed the myth of contented cows grazing in paddocks. I learned the dairy industry is based on cruel practices. The worst being the removal of new-born calves from their mothers at birth. These new-borns are trucked to slaughterhouses to be killed. The dairy cow is a milking machine. Her maternal instincts are crushed by the yearly removal of her hard-born calf.”

“DAILY OFFERINGS”

Walking back to the farm
I saw ute and trailer being mobbed by Mums
distraught and mooing.
The daily offering of new-born calves, taken away to be sorted:
Heifer, bull, bobby, longish life, short life, no life.
A daily offering, laid on the altar of profit.

Even if people here were starving,
Would it be right?
Can we sanction these
Induced abortions
To fit farm timetables and the killing of new-born calves?
This is a country of so much milk and meat
We are dying of excess.

It’s a familiar mantra:
Consumer demand overseas
Free trade, exports
GDP.
As dairy farmers say
“If you want butter and cheese to eat
And milk to drink, then there’s a cost.”
Citizens are waking up
Realizing the power of their wallets
and voices.
Remembering each one of us counts
In the choices we make.

What of the future?
When land is worn out
Water polluted?
We think of ancient peoples
Who made daily offerings of animals and birds,
To appease all-powerful gods.
Are we any different by placating a different God?

May Safely Graze contributor Danette Wereta is the General Secretary of the Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand, an experienced senior leader, and co-founder of a newly established animal charity. She is currently studying animal law and ethics and spends time rescuing injured wildlife.

I find it so very hard to believe that we don’t all agree that animals are not here for us, they are here with us. They are not resources or tools; they are individuals with lives of their own.

Tom Regan says it clearly in The Case for Animal Rights “The fundamental wrong is the system that allows us to view animals as our resources, here for us, to be eaten, or surgically manipulated, or exploited for sport or money.” That is the heart of it. The suffering animals endure is beyond terrible and constant, and the problem is the worldview, the belief that animals exist for human use. That belief underpins farming, testing, hunting, and even conservation policies that treat killing as a solution.

I spend some of my days on the front line, rescuing injured wildlife. I see their fear, their pain, their sheer determination to live. This work is a calling, but it brings a pain I don’t think I even have words for. And I also know I must go upstream. Dan Heath describes it well in Upstream: imagine hearing a child drowning and you and your mate jump in to save them, but then hearing another, and another. At some point, you climb out and your mate says where are you going? You reply, to stop the person throwing children in. That is how I feel about animals. I must be there to help them, for example when they are hit on the road, but I also have to fight against the mindset that causes it in the first place.

When I help an injured bird struck on the road, I need to not just treat wounds, but confront a deeper truth upstream. Was the bird hit because the driver believed they had the right of way, that their journey mattered more than the bird’s life? But what if we shifted that thinking? What if drivers understood “I live here, with these birds. They have every right to be here. This road crosses right through their home, so I should be considerate.” If you can swerve for a pothole, you can look out for wildlife.

I feel a duty not just to rescue animals, but to try and rescue people from the belief that animals are things. That is why I struggle so much with our New Zealand Department of Conservation. DOC was set up to protect our natural world, yet its approach, and might I add, its only approach, relies on killing, including methods such as aerial poison drops and hunting competitions.

DOC’s duty is to protect biodiversity, but there is no legal duty to protect individual animals from suffering. It breaks my heart, because I know that every possum, goat, rat or wallaby is not a “pest.” They are animals, just like the animals DOC says they are protecting.

If we shifted our mindset to “animals as individuals,” DOC would be forced to invest in alternatives instead of defaulting to killing. This utilitarian logic, that we can cause suffering to some animals to protect others, is flawed. And when your only conservation strategy is killing, you never innovate beyond killing. Whenever I post via the Animal Justice Party (AJP) saying killing isn’t the lever to pull, people always write smart-ass comments and demand a list of solutions. Here’s the thing,  the answer is changing the mindset and investing in looking at different solutions. I don’t have all the solutions, that’s exactly the problem. These solutions don’t exist in any meaningful, funded way because of the mindset. When you believe animals are just resources, why would you invest in developing humane alternatives? But alternatives do exist, they are just not explored in New Zealand. There is fertility control, habitat modification, and species-specific deterrents. The innovation happens when we stop defaulting to violence.

Hunting competitions, which DOC runs, take everything that’s wrong about how we see animals and shove it in your face. They don’t just promote killing, they glorify it. They turn death into sport, entertainment, something to cheer about. They teach communities and even children to see animals not as living beings with their own lives, but as targets, trophies, “pests” to be eliminated. Research by Emily Major shows how possums are framed by media as villains, and “the only good possum is a dead possum.” This framing makes violence seem acceptable, even patriotic or funny.

People let themselves feel okay about it by saying it’s for conservation. But how can people who eat animals or farm them really claim to care about conservation? It’s like saying, ‘I care about the ocean, so I won’t use plastic straws,’ while eating fish. It’s ridiculous.

Justice for Animals matters. It’s not just about reducing suffering here and there. It’s about shifting how humans think about and relate to animals. It’s about considering animals so their lives are not endlessly negotiable. I may not have all the answers, but I can contribute my hands, my heart, and my voice to that shift.

Globally, animals are almost invisible in the frameworks that guide our future. Sustainable development, the world’s blueprint for a good future, talks about protecting species and ecosystems, but not about how individual animals live, suffer, or thrive. How we treat animals is tied to environmental health, social justice, and economic stability. We cannot build a sustainable future if we ignore the lives and wellbeing of animals.

There is hope. Hope drives the work of shifting beliefs and building laws. That is why I do this work. That is why I will keep going until animals are no longer invisible in our laws, our policies, and our vision of a fair future.

When I help that injured bird struck on the road, I know I also have a duty to shift the view of my fellow humans. Only then will that bird, and all animals, finally be seen for who they are. Because that bird has every right to be there, and it’s our duty to be considerate and not kill or injure them with our cars. The road to justice isn’t just about healing the wounded, it’s about stopping the wounding in the first place. It starts with seeing animals not as things in our way, but as sentient beings sharing our world.

Summer Jayne is an author and animal-advocate based in Taranaki, New Zealand. She is the mother to two teenagers, a five year old, and ‘a house full of animals’.

Next weekend, gunfire will ring out over otherwise tranquil locations all around Aotearoa. The target of the relentless rain of bullets: thousands of gentle and innocent ducks, resting unsuspectingly in the wetlands, rivers, lakes, and ponds that they consider their homes.

The first weekend of May is the opening of duck shooting season, an outdated Kiwi tradition, continuing over a number of weeks, where violently killing ducks is regarded as a recreational activity. The animal welfare issues are extensive, but there are also environmental and social implications to consider. Animal advocate Sandra Kyle is one of many calling for an outright ban.

“Duck shooting is unconscionable,” states Kyle. “Fortunately, more and more New Zealanders are concerned about the suffering and injury caused to ducks and other waterbirds during duck shooting season.  I am hopeful that this horrible tradition will soon be winging its way into obscurity.”

In 2015, the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill passed into law in Aotearoa declaring that animals, like humans, are sentient beings. That means they are legally recognised as conscious, and capable of experiencing pain, fear, and distress. In addition to having sentience, ducks are intelligent and social beings, who sometimes partner for life.

Forcing them to experience the horror of being shot, retrieved in the jaws of a dog, and then swung around by the head until their neck dislocates, all in the name of tradition, is morally abhorrent. But the extent of the cruelty goes ever further. Each season, countless birds experience non-lethal wounding when they are shot, but do not die outright.

Wounded birds suffer agonising and prolonged deaths. Often unable to fly or swim, many will drown or starve. Former hunter Paora Mepham has witnessed the suffering of wounded ducks firsthand and chooses to take photographs instead of lives these days.

“Every trip there was prolonged suffering by ducks. Wounded birds, unable to fly, would invariably escape into the surrounding undergrowth and suffer slow deaths. Getting together with mates in the great outdoors is great fun. Killing animals while doing it; not so much,” Mepham states.

While bird protection is proudly encouraged in Aotearoa, ironically, duck shooting is not widely regarded as a threat to bird life. In reality though, it disrupts whole ecosystems, damages wetlands, and harms the native and endemic birds that live in these precious and unique ecological areas.   Fragile populations of endangered whio (blue duck) and pāteke (brown teal) face unnecessary disruption and death during duck hunting season. When they’re in flight, pāteke is visibly similar to a common mallard and they’re regularly killed by mistake.

Areas where duck hunting takes place become littered with the wads of shotgun cartridges, adding to plastic pollution and degrading waterways. The constant gunfire and the traipsing of hunters to their maimai disturbs wildlife in other predictable ways; a violent and unnecessary intrusion that turns wetlands into killing zones.

The Fish and Game regulations allow for the killing of ducks and other “game bird” species considered to be overpopulated, including mallards, black swans, pheasants and quails, as well as NZ native pūtakitaki (paradise shelduck) and pūkeko.

Killing species we don’t want around is the default position in New Zealand, but we should not consider killing a form of conservation when there are other non-violent solutions available that offer benefits that traditional methods often overlook,and can also be more economical.  Non-lethal methods for controlling duck numbers include habitat modification, exclusion and deterrents, birth control such as oiling eggs and contraceptive baits, and population control via humane capture and relocation.

Duck shooting is widely considered a tradition in New Zealand, framed as a family-friendly activity passed down through generations. However, in 2025, surely it is time to evolve beyond a cultural tradition based on harming and killing animals. It is well-documented in scientific research that exposure to violence negatively impacts children’s development. Involving children in any form of animal killing desensitizes them to violence and normalises the objectification of other beings. It is now well established that children who hurt animals are statistically much more likely to grow up and hurt other humans.

Duck shooting is also closely tied to binge-drinking culture, with consumption of alcohol a very common accompaniment to hunting. As well as being dangerous for other humans, this also contributes to shooters making errors resulting in non-lethal woundings of ducks.

In 2025, we ought to strive for a society where we no longer consider killing animals an acceptable form of recreation. Traditions and activities that are based upon the harm, exploitation, or deaths of other creatures should be banned. We can replace these outdated activities with kinder and more environmentally friendly pastimes, such as community engagement in wetland conservation,  and counting of local bird populations.

Three Australian states have already banned duck shooting and it’s time Aotearoa followed their lead. On opening weekend, animal advocates will be protesting in Christchurch and Whanganui. There is also an online petition to the government that people can sign to support a ban. Let’s choose new, non-violent traditions to instill compassion and kindness into society, and show mercy to animals who do not deserve to be killed for our leisure.

This moving documentary follows from a previous article we did on Stuart Edmondson, the Pig Man of the Coromandel, who for twenty years has been feeding, looking after, and living with feral pigs on his remote property.  Trying to protect his family of pigs from pig hunters last Friday 13th, Stuart finally snapped, and tragically shot and killed a pig hunter who was poaching on his property, and injured another.  Stewart has been remanded in custody until his Court case comes up in February 2025.

We have started a fundraiser to try and help the many pigs who are now left alone, without a carer and surrounded by pig hunters.

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/save-the-coromandel-pigs-urgent-appeal?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2w30uTrT0k6hAllyVhKOgSQebK0nfoGiFoDXahiUCx0s5aGE4AoB4KvZU_aem_D1FYcI9F2WhI63P9rxa_Aw

by Sandra Kyle, Editor, May Safely Graze

A 77 year old man was taken into custody this week, and given name suppression.  The man has been accused to shooting two pig hunters, one of whom died at the scene, the other airlifted to hospital in non-critical condition.

This tragic incident took place on a remote rural road, the 309 road on the Coromandel Peninsula.  There on the property his parents bought more than 70 years ago the man shares his life with hundreds of ‘wild’ pigs.  He feeds them, looks after them, tends to them when they’re sick or injured.  He’s well known in the area and tourists drop by from all over to meet the pigs and cuddle the piglets.  Film makers Amy Taylor and James Muir interviewed him ten years ago, and the video is available on youtube.

“I’m here to help them,” the man says in the video of his friendly, domesticated pigs.  “If they get sick or anything they come up to see me.  If a pig dog’s chewed their ears off or arrows sticking out their stout.

“They’ve got real neat natures.  They’ve all got their own personalities like people. Little gentle souls. They don’t do anyone any harm. They’re really social animals. It really upsets me when they run them over on purpose, grab them, knife them, stick them with a crossbow. It’s a really cruel death.

“They just walk up to people and they just shoot them with a crossbow. Put them in all that pain. Very slow deaths.  Breaks your heart when you see an animal suffering like that”.

The pensioner is always having run-ins with pig hunters, who come onto his property at night, trying to steal his pigs.  Some are deliberately mowed down by cars.  “I normally bury them facing towards the sun. Not sure why.  I’m an old fella but I still cry when I lose an animal”.

Recently a New Zealand pig-hunting TikTok showed a wild boar cornered by six dogs.  The hunter can be heard egging his dogs on as three of them latch onto the pig’s face.

The boar is cornered by the increasing number of dogs sinking their teeth into his body, and then the hunter walks over and slaps the pig’s leg.  The pig tries to kick back and you can hear him groaning in pain.  The video went viral.

Is this what we celebrate?  The torture of animals?  Ill-treatment of wild animals is an offence under the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act 1999, but a defence can be made if the alleged conduct is considered generally accepted hunting practice.  How can shooting animals with a crossbow and dogs be deemed accepted hunting practice?

As far as I’m concerned there is no accepted hunting practice.  When we examine hunting through a lens of ethics and compassion, it becomes evident that all forms of hunting are fundamentally wrong, irrespective of the justifications for it. Pig hunting should be banned, at the very least there should be an immediate ban on using dogs and crossbows.  It is blatant cruelty to pigs to put them through such torment, and it’s also dangerous for the dogs.

The tragedy this week has touched many lives.  A family is grieving for the loss of their loved one, and hundreds of pigs are now without their dad and carer.   This normally gentle, mild-mannered man, after twenty years of trying to protect his pets, found hunters trying to kill them and he finally snapped.

He will be appearing in Court this week.  I will be following this case with interest.

And meantime, who will look after the pigs?  Will hunters be having a killing fest on the Coromandel Peninsula?

In this article May Safely Graze contributor Dr Lynley Tulloch condemns the mass gassing of 200,000 birds this week after avian influenza was found on a layer farm.

The spread of a highly pathogenic subtype of avian influenza on Hillgrove Egg Farm in rural Otago, belonging to Mainland Poultry,  has resulted in the entire population of 200,000 chickens being killed.  This strain is different from the H781 bird flu virus that has been responsible for the deaths of wild birds and mammals globally, and is not thought to be a threat to humans.

This is a biosecurity incident and it is rightfully being taken seriously. Concerns for economic implications regarding exports are one worry for the Industry. Consumers are also anxious that egg supply will be interrupted (it won’t apparently).

Yet, there is so much more to this than human-centred or industry concerns. New Zealand has a reputation for high animal welfare standards and yet these chickens were killed in one of the cruellest ways imaginable. Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson announced to the media that the birds would be ‘humanely culled’ (an oxymoron) with the farmer’s cooperation. Ray Smith was further quoted as saying: “Poultry farms are always having to depopulate and repopulate. They have large containers and they go into the containers and it is effectively a carbon dioxide process.”

The killing of 200,000 live and sentient chickens is a serious ethical issue. Chickens are intelligent, feeling, problem-solving, walking, flapping marvels. It’s high time that the implications for the chickens was given precedence over sunny-side-up eggs and capitalistic profits.

First up, how do you kill 200,000 birds over a few days with carbon dioxide? What are the methods of ‘humanely culling’ or ‘depopulation’? These are weasel words designed to distract and conceal a horrific process. Information on this requires a deep dive into the Code of Welfare: Layer Hens, published by the Ministry for Primary Industries.  ‘Humane destruction’ of hens according to MPI includes ‘gas suffocation’.  I am quite perplexed as to the use of the word ‘humane’ when linked with the painful extinguishing of life by administering gas.

For disease control purposes, carbon dioxide (CO 2) is often used in on-farm killing of large groups of poultry, in both mobile gas container units and whole house gassing exercises. When using this gas the hens generally asphyxiate within two minutes. In the early stages they experience breathlessness, hyperventilation and irritation of the nasal mucosa. Veterinarian Dr. Jonas Watson says that gassing also causes headshaking, gasping and convulsions in chickens prior to the cessation of brain activity.

The egg-laying industry is fraught with animal welfare issues even before any concerns about viruses or culling is mentioned. MPI also endorses the shredding of day-old male chicks in a giant macerator amounting to 2.5 million of these babies every year.  Their definition of humane killing also involves stringing spent hens up and then stunning them electrically, followed by neck dislocation and exsanguination (slitting their throats). I am positive that MPI and I do not share the same concept of what ‘humane’ means.

It’s a terrible lot layer hens have. Colony cage hens are only given the size of an A4 piece of paper each and live in crowded and noisy sheds their entire lives. This is enormously stressful and often leads to feather picking and cannibalism. Reducing a living being’s entire life to a biological function is exploitative and cruel. One might even argue that is not a life worth living. Having rescued a small number of these chickens at eighteen months old when they went off the lay, I can testify to their dull eyes and featherless bodies.

Chickens do not deserve this. No living and feeling creature should end their lives in such a cruel way. The only reason they are in this position at all is because they are being ruthlessly exploited to produce eggs in the first place.

It’s very easy to look the other way and not think about the lives of these birds.  But it’s not good enough, and we need to get into a flap about it. We have known for a long time that the gassing of animals is highly distressing to the dying animal. We need to reevaluate our food systems and not subject living beings to this kind of torture. The mass factory farming of egg-laying chickens needs to stop.

Animals need to be given the same essential rights as humans, otherwise we will continue to misuse our power by exploiting, harming and killing them.  Such a reorientation will include both how  we co-exist with our fellow Earth beings, and how we operate our society economically and socially.

Dr Lynley Tulloch is an Early Childhood Education Lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).   She is a long-time animal activist.