SPCA backs anti-cruelty campaign

The Royal New Zealand SPCA supports Jan Cameron’s anti-cruelty initiative and SAFE’s campaign to ban sow crates, sow stalls and battery hen farming.

“Jan Cameron and SAFE are to be applauded for their initiative. The SPCA wholeheartedly supports the right of animals to live cruelty free lives. It is a disgrace that in many farms in New Zealand that is not the case,” says Robyn Kippenberger, national chief executive.

The SPCA’s Blue Tick is a national certification programme that identifies the animal food product it adorns as being produced in a humane manner.

“If you farm with cages or crates you can’t get a Blue Tick logo. Full stop. No argument.” Ms Kippenberger says. “Under the Blue Tick code, the humane treatment of the animal is paramount.”

To use a Blue Tick logo the producer must meet the SPCA’s rigorous welfare standards and undergo thorough auditing on a regular basis by qualified and independent inspectors against those standards.

Choosing products displaying the Blue Tick logo enables consumers to confidently select humanely-produced food.