Choudhary Ashraf: Animal Welfare Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Choudhary Ashraf: Animal Welfare Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
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Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 I start by thanking Simon Bridges; the Animal Welfare Reform Bill is actually his bill. The Minister of Agriculture is the Minister in charge of it now that it has become a Government bill—and the Minister has been sort of missing in action for quite some time—but the credit really goes to Simon Bridges who brought this bill to the House to begin with. 
As we have heard we have seen horrible pictures on TV in relation to kittens being fed to pit bull terriers and this being filmed and there was also the story about the 33 dogs being shot at close range. Those are the sorts of horror stories that we cannot allow to be continually broadcast on TV and on radio stations. Animal cruelty is simply not acceptable in this country. I am really delighted as has been said before that we have a bill that deals with some of those issues. 
As my colleague Damien O’Connor said yesterday this bill does not really do a lot. It enhances some penalties in terms of fines and in terms of the prison sentence being extended from 3 to 5 years. That does not really solve the problem as such. In my view this legislation is just an interim measure. Enhancing penalties and extending prison sentences will not solve this problem. In a way the need for this bill is a reflection of the society that we have of the people who abuse animals and particularly of those who abuse small animals in urban areas. This legislation is a reflection of the nature of our society which is becoming more and more violent. Unfortunately the abuse of animals is related to the abuse in communities and families. 
So Labour supports this bill. I say to the Minister that I acknowledge the provision in the bill for extra resourcing particularly in respect of the SPCA in the form of $8 million over 4 years which is a small amount but a good start. I think that extra resourcing will get some of the non-governmental organisations to help in this area. Whereas 20 years ago the police the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the SPCA dealt with about one-third of the cases of ill-treatment in recent times about 90 percent of cases are dealt with by the SPCA. I think that shows that there is a lack of resources in this area. 
In respect of prosecution it is amazing that a lot of animal abuse complaints are lodged but few result in convictions. For example in 2008 over 14000 complaints of animal abuse were received by the SPCA but only 110 complaints resulted in charges being laid and only 58 people were convicted. That example shows that it is pretty hard to prove in court that there has been animal ill-treatment. Also a lot of cases are not reported. I hope that this bill will in some way help more cases to be dealt with. 
I will talk about the issue of animal abuse going forward. In my earlier speech I said that the whole animal abuse area is [ 
Interruption 
]—I am being urged by the other side to hurry up but I say to them that there is plenty of time and they should not worry. The issue of animal abuse is an expanding area of legal practice overseas particularly in relation to the ill-treatment of animals on the farm. We need to be very careful as we go forward because I worry that in many areas of the market a lot of non-tariff barriers will be placed on us. We are one of the biggest exporters of meat and dairy products. If we are not careful the stories of animal abuse cases could potentially go overseas and become quite difficult for us in terms of future trade. 
I have highlighted in the House the issue of sow crates. For example we have heard stories of cubicle farming taking place in Canterbury and we have heard about the potential of that practice to jeopardise the future of that industry. There is also the issue of possums and the 1080 debate. When those stories get out there people become suspicious of how we treat our animals and to what degree there is neglect of these animals in society. We need to make sure that we strengthen our rules and laws as we go forward particularly in relation to what happens on the farm because we do not want those stories to get out of New Zealand to overseas market places and affect our trade adversely. 
This is a good bill. We all are in the House in support of this bill and I am delighted to support it. I know there is a short time until 6 o’clock and it looks like the Government’s MPs are very keen to pass the second reading debate tonight. We did good work in the Primary Production Committee. There are a number of colleagues here like my colleague Damien O’Connor and others from the other side. They have been very helpful in terms of scrutinising this bill in the select committee. With those few words I commend the bill to the House.