Each year in Aotearoa, approximately 120 million chickens are farmed for meat in industrial and factory farm conditions. Measured only in tonnes, an unknown amount of fishes* are farmed in underwater factory farms.
These animals live some of the worst lives of any farmed animals but are underrepresented when it comes to news, education and campaigns to improve the lives of animals.
We’re here to change that!
Learn about the reality of chicken and fish farming in Aotearoa, about the labels on the meat sold at retailers, about the lives of rescued chickens, and ways that you can help.
Top stories
Cracking the code on chicken meat: Why woody breast and white striping are a sign of poor farming practices
Posts on Reddit and Facebook are exposing some of the negative sides of the chicken industry.
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The life of farmed salmon in New Zealand
Read what life is like on NZ salmon farms, from the perspective of Chinny the Chinook.
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Is free range chicken meat really better?
Labels such as free range, cage-free and no added hormones can jump out at you, but what do they really mean? What kind of lives did the animals lead? Is free range chicken really better or are there even kinder choices?
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Blog Caged hens Chickens Disease Effective Altruism Eggs Environment Fishes Food Business Free-range Law Media Octopuses Plant-based Science Sentience Slaughter
Looking ahead to 2026: A message to our community about animal welfare
Animal welfare priorities in New Zealand are changing. Learn what’s shaping 2026 and why it matters for animals, people, and the future.
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Cultivated Meat in New Zealand: What You Need to Know
Cultivated meat is real meat grown in vats in a lab from animal cells, without slaughter. Learn what it means for people and the planet in New Zealand.
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Over One Million Voices Call for an End to Factory Farming
Over one million people worldwide have called on the UN to end factory farming and create a fair, sustainable food system for animals, people, and the planet.
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Horrific Footage Exposes Octopus Cruelty as NZ’s Secretive Research Continues
On World Octopus Day, undercover footage reveals that octopuses can suffer for up to 10 minutes when being slaughtered.
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Undercover footage reveals horrific octopus slaughter as secretive new zealand research into factory farming octopuses continues
Animal advocacy group calls for Government transparency and action on World Octopus Day. On World Octopus Day, New Zealand animal advocacy group Animals Aotearoa is calling on the Government to stop funding research into octopus farming and commit to banning the practice altogether, following the release of concerning new undercover footage and an international report…
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Campylobacter: A Hidden Health Crisis from the Chicken on Your Plate
Every year, thousands of New Zealanders fall sick with a serious stomach bug called Campylobacter, and many don’t know that the chicken meat industry is the main cause of this infection.
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Are chickens really killed humanely? What the chicken meat industry doesn’t want you to know.
What the chicken meat industry doesn’t want to you know about how chickens are killed by live-shackle slaughter in New Zealand.
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A dog’s dinner has better welfare than our own
Many pet food companies have much higher welfare standards than human food brands.
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Europe’s Making Progress for Chickens—So Why Isn’t New Zealand?
Europe’s Making Progress for Chickens Bred for Meat – So Why Isn’t New Zealand doing the same?
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New Zealand implicated in global egg investigation
Global investigation reveals never-before-seen footage of systemic animal abuse in cage egg factory farming. The exposé includes footage from a colony cage factory farm in New Zealand.
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Media Release: World’s Biggest Investigation into Egg Factory Farming. New Zealand Cages Scrutinised
In the largest global investigation ever, The Open Wing Alliance reveals footage of systemic animal abuse and public health risks in cage egg factory farming, including from New Zealand.
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It’s time Best Western Hotels and Resorts came clean on their cage-free egg promise
Guests deserve honesty. Animals deserve better. And Best Western must be held to its cage-free egg promise.
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Media Release: Roaring call for Government to halt funding of cruel octopus farming
As legislations that ban octopus farming and the sale of farmed octopus products proceed worldwide, New Zealand is urged to cease wasting funds to establish the practice.
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169 organisations sign open letter to ban octopus factory farming
169 organisations sign open letter to ban octopus factory farming and demand that NZ government divests from research into octopus farming.
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Trailer crash reveals chickens’ grim lives
Traffic crash in Canterbury causes yet another trailer load of chickens to overturn, spilling birds over the road and revealing animals suffering poor health.
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* The term ‘fishes’ rather than ‘fish’ is increasingly being adopted by the animal advocacy movement to recognise and emphasise the individuality of the intelligent, feeling individuals we are describing. (The fish-farming industry only measures fishes in tonnes, rather than numbers of individuals.)
