It was about an article by animal welfare campaigner Angus Robson claiming that MPI was under-resourced to police animal welfare issues. What the size of the problem was, he didn’t say – or offer any proof.
That was followed by well-known campaigner Alison Dewes, who suggested that vets were reluctant to report any animal welfare issues because of the fear of repercussions from rural communities. I’ve always found vets were made of sterner stuff, and believe they are an integral part of any rural community I’ve been involved with. As with Robson, no proof was given, which told me RNZ didn’t want any.
I’m fast getting over the consistent farmer bashing by sections of the media.
If a statement comes from Greenpeace, Fish and Game or SAFE, it seems to appear with indecent haste. If a statement comes from farmers, nothing much seems to happen.
It is the same with effluent. If a farmer’s system breaks down and a few buckets of sewage escapes into a waterway, it gets massive media attention. Correspondingly, councils can put 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of it into a harbour, and little gets said.
Likewise with animal welfare.
MPI receives between 500 and 700 complaints each year, the majority of which aren’t upheld. The RSPCA receives over 9000 complaints each year over cruelty to dogs in urban New Zealand. You can often read about rural issues, but just not those in urban areas.
Getting back to my rant with the news section of RNZ.
On questioning Robson’s credentials, RNZ told me that it was due to his past experience with animal welfare campaigns that gave him credibility. I’m aware he ran an anti-farmer campaign about pugging in Southland, but unaware of anything else except that he’s a mechanical engineer.
When I suggested that living on a lifestyle block didn’t qualify someone to be a farmer, I was told I was wrong and that lifestyle blockers were farmers just like anyone else.
Think of the absurdity of that statement.
It is estimated that there are over 200,000 lifestyle blocks in NZ. Over 7000 change hands each year.
Correspondingly, there are 12,000 dairy farms and 16,000 sheep and beef units, meaning lifestyle blocks outnumber farms farming animals by almost eight to one, yet RNZ, or the State Radio, which you and I own, still classifies them as farmers.
A lot of the animal management on those lifestyle farms bears no relation to what happens on real farms. One local sale yard had an instruction sheet telling lifestyle purchasers basic things like “if you get an animal that’s only a couple of days or weeks old, you need to give them milk – they can’t survive on grass alone.”
Mind you, that’s a fact that every bonafide farmer knows, but then lifestylers are farmers according to RNZ, even if they don’t have animals or crops.
My issue is that a blaze of publicity was given to a story with no proof of a problem.
Last week I wrote an article on Rural Support Trusts and the great work they do with an increasingly stressed and by statistics suicide-prone rural sector. The resources they have to do that vital work are infinitesimal.
That was illustrated by an article in Stuff last week, where a farmer had been convicted of breaching the Animal Welfare Act.
Here’s the rub. The farmer concerned had been suffering severe depression that had started with the Canterbury earthquakes. He pleaded guilty, was convicted and discharged with permanent name suppression.
His statement to the Court read: “Fortunately when MPI stepped in, it was a wake-up call and a shock. I realised I had lost perspective and resolved to get the stock back to full health.”
The judge in the trial said that rural mental health “was a real issue.”
Talking to Steve Thomson of the local Rural Support Trust was interesting.
“When farmers get stressed they forget about stock,” he said.
“Stock welfare is often a sign of long-term stress.
“I look around a farm and can tell straight away if things aren’t right.
“Even when farming enjoys good times, depression is always there”.
Farmstrong is another iconic organisation that supports farmers wellbeing. All Black Sam Whitelock is the public face of the organisation.
They recently released research findings that showed a clear link between diminished wellbeing and on-farm injuries. In fact, 58% of 500 respondents showed that diminished wellbeing contributed to their accident.
My point is simply that having an army of animal welfare officers and Worksafe inspectors will solve little.
Adequately resourcing Rural Support Trusts and Farmstrong will assist both animal welfare issues and reduce on-farm accidents.
Someone should tell Radio NZ.
