Animals are now legally recognised as 'sentient' beings in New Zealand
The legislation included a ban on the use of animals for cosmetic testing
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The New Zealand Government has formally recognised animals as 'sentient' beings by amending animal welfare legislation.
The Animal Welfare Amendment Bill was passed on Tuesday.
The Act stipulates that it is now necessary to 'recognise animals as sentient' and that owners must ‘attend properly to the welfare of those animals'.
"To say that animals are sentient is to state explicitly that they can experience both positive and negative emotions, including pain and distress," said Chair of the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee, Dr Virginia Williams, according to animalequality.net
"The explicitness is what is new and marks another step along the animal welfare journey," she added.
In addition, new material has been added to the section of the Act pertaining to animal testing for other research purposes.
The Government now demands that checks be made as to whether there has been 'assessment of the suitability of using non-sentient or non-living alternatives in the project' and 'replacement of animals as subjects with suitable non-sentient or non-living alternatives'.
"Expectations on animal welfare have been rapidly changing. The bill brings legislation in line with our nation's changing attitude on the status of animals in society, " according to the President of the New Zealand Veterinary Association, Dr Steve Merchant.