“We saw from the response to last year’s allegations of bobby calf abuse just how much farmers care. There was a pretty clear voice from the farming community that animal abuse is not on.
“We agree, and we want to work with farmers and other livestock owners to do something about it to ensure that any abuse is identified and acted on.
“The advertisements encourage people to let us know if they see things that don’t look right, and how to do that.
“MPI places a high priority on animal welfare. We know it’s important to people, it’s clearly important to the animals and it’s important to New Zealand’s reputation.
“When we get information about mistreatment of animals, we investigate. When there is offending, people are held to account.”
MPI has broad responsibility for managing animal welfare compliance in relation to livestock and other animals used for commercial purposes.
The SPCA manages compliance in relation to companion (pet) animals.
