New Zealand Open Rescue

15 months after New Zealand Open Rescue and former Pork Industry front man Mike King investigated Colin Kay’s Levin piggery, the Open Rescue team has inspected the farm again - only to find that, unbelievebly, the conditions for the pigs have actually worsened!

Spokesperson Deirdre Sims says, “Despite the massive public outcry following the Mike King pig farming expose, absolutely nothing has changed for these animals. The conditions we found recently at Colin Kay’s Levin pig farm were actually worse than what we witnessed with Mike King 15 months ago.

“We re-visited the very same sow stall shed that we took Mike into. As well as the legalised confinement the sows were suffering under in their tiny stalls, we also documented many sows with open, infected wounds - one of which had turned gangrenous.

“We discovered one sow with an injured ear. Her ear was massively swollen and bloody. Blood from this wound covered her face and body, the bars confining her and even the sow next to her.

“Prime Minister John Key said he found the first images from this farm 'very, very disturbing'. The fact that conditions on this farm have only gotten worse since the original expose is outrageous and appalling. Colin Kay's farm needs to be closed down immediately. It is completely unacceptable that the pigs on Kay's farm continue to suffer in these horrific conditions.

"The New Zealand public are largely compassionate people that care about the treatment and well being of animals. Open Rescue appeals to New Zealander's to use their consumer power to make change for animals confined on factory farms. Ultimately its the people of New Zealand that will force these cruel and archaic industries to change their abhorrent practices" says Ms. Sims.

New Zealand Open Rescue works to expose the cruelty behind the closed doors of intensive animal production. The organisation inspects farms across the country at random and always uncovers the same appalling cruelty. This is because the cruelty of these intensive industries is legally sanctioned, reducing our animal welfare legislation to a regulatory facade.

Our Animal Welfare Act and the Codes of Welfare offer no protection for these animals. Rather they are treated as mere production units instead of as the intelligent and sensitive creatures that they are. Factory farming must end.