More and more people are committing to ending animal cruelty. Yet each day, animals are made to suffer in the name of gambling, entertainment and food. The Greens believe we must properly care for animals and treat them with respect and compassion.
The Greens believe that all animals have value – separate from the needs and wants of humans – and that they should be free from suffering.
The Greens in New South Wales have a long track record of advocating for animals in Parliament. We’ve called for an end to greyhound racing and horse racing, called out cruel factory farming practices, and consistently fought for better protection for native animals.
We will fight to protect animals from cruelty and suffering and end harmful practices that put profit ahead of the welfare of animals.
Recognising Animal Sentience
Cruelty in intensive factory farming driven by profit at the cost of quality of life, and callous animal experimentation in medical research that exploits animals for human benefit, is contrary to community expectations and scientific opinion.
Science agrees that animals are sentient but NSW’s animal welfare laws are stuck in the past. Until we recognise the basic fact that animals are thinking, feeling beings, we can’t move forward to meet the community’s expectations for how we should treat animals.
We have a responsibility to the animals we share our planet with. By enshrining the fact of animal sentience in our laws, The Greens will create a foundation to overhaul our animal welfare laws and the practices of industries governed by them.
The Greens will:
- Legally recognise the science of animal sentience in our laws, and extend existing anti-cruelty laws by adding a responsibility to also provide animals with opportunities to experience comfort, interest and pleasure
- Mandate an end to cruel factory farming practices like the use of sow stalls and battery cages that deny animals a life worth living
- Resource the phase out of mulesing and tail docking through a selective breeding program, towards a five-year ban
- Immediately ban cruel practices in animal medical research like forced swim tests, smoking tower tests and draize eye tests
- Resource the transition away from animal experimentation and towards alternative methods of medical research and testing
Read more about our policy on Ending Industrial Abuse of Sentient Beings
An Independent Office for Animal Welfare
Animals are sentient beings that feel joy, fear and pain. But for too long, animals in NSW have been without the protection they deserve from cruelty and exploitation, thanks to political interference and poor resourcing.
By establishing an independent statutory authority responsible for oversight of animal welfare in NSW, and properly resourcing community-run rescue and inspectorate programs, we can remove the undue political influence of the major parties and their big donors from animal protection.
The Greens will:
- Establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare
- Unify animal welfare oversight by moving responsibility for all animal welfare issues into the Independent Office of Animal Welfare
- Provide adequate funding to the RSPCA and Animal Welfare League
- Fund community organisations that rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals
Ending Animal Exploitation For Entertainment and Gambling
Exploiting animals for entertainment and gambling profits is cruel and archaic, and we know that when animal entertainment industries are allowed to flourish, animals suffer. The Greens will put a stop to this.
Thanks to the hard work of animal welfare advocates and activists, the cruelty of ‘sports’ like greyhound racing, horse racing and rodeos has been exposed. From perverse performance motivators like electrocution or live baiting, to slaughter of injured and unwanted animals because it’s cheaper than rehabilitation and rehoming, these are industries that rely on cruelty to turn a profit — and it’s past time to shut them down.
Public sentiment is turning against this cruelty. More people than ever before oppose exploitation of animals for entertainment. As of 2021, no circuses in Australia use wild exotic animals — but the cruelty continues for domesticated animals exploited in circuses and petting zoos.
The Greens will:
- Ban all animal racing and establish a transition program for industry workers and impacted communities
- Implement urgent welfare reforms while working towards greyhound and horse racing shutdown
- Shut down rodeos
- Close down travelling animal shows like circuses and petting zoos
Read more about our policy on Reining in Animal Exploitation
Pets Not Products
Companion animals are cherished members of many families and households.
Sadly, a small minority of people are taking advantage of our love for companion animals with exploitative puppy farms and pet stores. Because governments have failed to prioritise animal welfare, countless numbers of dogs, cats and other companion animals are suffering across our state as a result.
The Greens will shut down puppy farming in this state once and for all by tightening breeding laws and closing dodgy sales pathways. We will also address the crisis in council Pounds and Shelters with mandatory subsidised desexing, urgent capital works upgrades to improve welfare and quality of life, and a welfare-focused duty of care and phase-out of euthanasia for non-compassionate reasons.
The Greens will:
- Shut down puppy farms
- Ban pet shops selling non-rescue animals
- Mandate and subsidise desexing
- Allow pets on public transport
- Regulate pet food production
- Reform the NSW Pound and Shelter system