DocCM 5906736
30 April 2019
Ms Stephanie McKee
[FYI request #9961 email]
Dear Ms McKee
Thank you for your email about animal welfare, submitted through the FYI website
as an Official Information Act request. The department is not obliged to respond, as
you are requiring us to generate an opinion and create new information (section
18(g) refers). We have decided nonetheless to provide you with a brief response as a
departmental letter.
The Department does not condone animal cruelty. We do acknowledge that people
are right to be concerned about animal welfare, as are we.
We recognize that all animals are sentient, and we use control tools that have an
acceptable impact on animal welfare, following guidelines from the National Animal
Welfare Advisory Committee.
Our pest management programmes are ethical and address animal welfare concerns
by satisfying the criteria described on the Biosecurity New Zealand website
www.bionet.nz/rules/animal-welfare-and-ethics-of-pest-management-in-new-
zealand/.
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
National Office
Conservation House -
Whare Kaupapa Atawhai
PO Box 10 420, Wellington 6143
Telephone (04) 471 0726, Fax (04) 381 3057
The Department follows standard operating procedures that have been developed to
ensure animal welfare is considered, and that animals in their wild state are killed as
humanely as possible while delivering biodiversity outcomes. We also support and
deliver research to improve our current tools and find new ones. This includes
developing more species-specific toxins, baits and lures, as well as novel delivery
systems.
In answer to your second question, the Department’s annual Survey of New
Zealanders (SONZ) was suspended in 2016 because of high delivery costs and
statistically insignificant variation over several years. The purpose and research
design of the SONZ has now been revised and it is being repeated in April 2019.
Yours sincerely,
Amber Bill
Director, Threats
Biodiversity Group
Kāhui Kanorau Koiora
