Ongoing inquiry into chicken deaths criticised
A LEGAL expert says a mass chicken death aftermath shows governments have displayed a birdbrained approach to funding animal welfare inspectors.
An investigation into the deaths of 180,000 broiler chickens at DB Chicks, near Helensville, in late November 2019 is ongoing.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said Covid19 had affected the investigation and it was essential the chicken death inquiry was thorough.
However, University of Otago law lecturer Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere said MPI did not have enough inspectors.
‘‘In some ways it makes sense that it would be a lengthy investigation. It really is such an incredibly large amount of deaths,’’ Mr Rodriguez Ferrere said.
‘‘That said, 14 months is an insanity. For an investigation to take that long is really just far too long. It’s entirely due to resource pressures.’’
It is understood one or more factors, possibly including a power cut, ventilation failure, backup generator failure, and alarm failure, may have led to the deaths.
Mr Rodriguez Ferrere, an animal law expert, said New Zealand had at least 100 million production animals but barely two dozen dedicated inspectors.
An Official Information Act response from MPI to Mr Rodriguez Ferrere at the end of August showed the ministry had 27 fulltime dedicated animal welfare inspectors.
Another 19 compliance investigations staff held animal welfare warrants, enabling investigations under the Animal Welfare Act.
‘‘Prior to Covid, I heard from sources there were going to be big increases to their inspectorate levels,’’ he said.
That never eventuated and the number of inspectors basically had stagnated for years, he said.
Associate Minister of Agriculture responsible for Animal Welfare Meka Whaitiri said in an ideal world she would have more inspectors.
‘‘The reality is, we’re dealing with Covid issues and making sure we’ve got resources. It’s a balance.’’ Ms Whaitiri said future budgets could provide more money for inspectors, and she viewed animal welfare as a key Government priority in the primary sector.
She would not specifically discuss the chicken deaths, saying it was important to let MPI do its job.
National Party agriculture spokesman David Bennett said the investigation duration was concerning.
‘‘You would want a more timely resolution of it, due to the scale of the event.’’
Mr Bennett said it was not apparent how Covid19 could have caused major delays in the case.
MPI this week said two investigators were assigned to the Helensville case but the ministry was also working with an independent expert.