Animal rights group SAFE has released new footage from a Taranaki piggery that it says shows the day to day reality of farrowing crates, as Parliament prepares to vote on the Animal Welfare Regulations for Management of Pigs Amendment Bill.

SAFE said the filming took place in November 2025 and showed mother pigs confined in steel crates so small they could not turn around or move freely. The group said one pig had open pressure sores that appeared consistent with prolonged time on hard flooring. The footage also showed bar biting, which SAFE said is widely recognised as a sign of distress, along with dirty water troughs and a waste bin containing dead piglets.

SAFE Chief Executive Debra Ashton said the images provided a confronting reminder of what was at stake.

“These pigs are suffering exactly as welfare scientists, veterinarians, and the courts have warned for years. The harm is written on their faces,” Ashton said.

SAFE said the footage was supplied to the Primary Production Select Committee on September fourteen as the committee finalised its report on the bill. On November eighteen, the committee recommended the bill proceed without change, despite SAFE saying that nearly ninety percent of submissions opposed it.

Under current law, farrowing crates were due to be phased out in December following a 2020 High Court ruling that found the practice unlawful. SAFE said the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee had repeatedly advised that farrowing crates and mating stalls were inconsistent with the purpose of the Animal Welfare Act.

“This bill does not just ignore welfare science. It rewrites the law to suit industry,” Ashton said.

SAFE said it had lodged a complaint with the Prime Minister last week, urging him to reassign the animal welfare portfolio. The group claimed the development of the bill had been rushed and heavily influenced by industry, and said Minister Andrew Hoggard’s past industry roles created a conflict of interest.

“You cannot have credible oversight of animal welfare when the Minister is so deeply tied to the industries he is meant to regulate,” Ashton said.

A 2025 Verian poll found that three in four New Zealanders opposed the use of farrowing crates, SAFE said.

The group is calling on MPs to reject the bill.

“MPs now face a simple choice. Uphold the law that protects animals or entrench the cruelty that harms them,” Ashton said.

Background on the Bill

The Animal Welfare (Regulations for Management of Pigs) Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament in October 2025 and seeks to update pig farming regulations in New Zealand. 

According to a Cabinet paper from the Ministry for Primary Industries, the bill is designed to provide a legally compliant and welfare-focused transition for pig farmers before certain current regulations expire on 18 December 2025. 

Under existing law, the use of farrowing crates—small cages that confine sows during birth and farrowing—was due to be phased out following a 2020 High Court ruling that found such systems unlawful under the Animal Welfare Act 1999. 

The amendment bill proposes to:

• Delay some of the regulatory changes, effectively extending the allowable use of farrowing crates and mating stalls beyond the originally scheduled phase-out. 

• Amend regulations to allow these confinement systems to continue even though they were judged unlawful under the Act. 

• Set a framework intended to allow industry time to transition, but critics argue it weakens welfare standards rather than strengthens them. 

The bill has attracted significant opposition. The New Zealand Law Society criticised it for extending the transition period by ten years and for undermining regulatory clarity