Following an explosive investigation that uncovered workers beating, whipping, kicking, and stomping terrified sheep on farms supplying ZQ-certified wool, PETA has sent a letter to Minister of Agriculture Todd McClay, urging immediate action to mandate live-streaming web cameras in all shearing sheds across New Zealand, including those on ZQ-certified farms.

Despite recent footage revealing extreme cruelty and violence, the wool industry has failed to stop this rampant abuse, even on so-called “sustainable” and “responsible” farms. Live-streaming the activities inside all New Zealand shearing sheds will help farm owners hold shearers accountable.

“Sheep on ZQ-certified and other farms are routinely slammed to the ground, sliced up during shearing, and left to suffer and die from illnesses and injuries. Any wool industry executive who claims not to know about it needs their eyes checked,” says PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on the New Zealand government to mandate web cameras inside all of the country’s shearing sheds to hold the farms accountable since the industry seems incapable of doing so itself.”

PETA’s letter to McClay:

The Honourable Todd McClay
Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry, Hunting and Fishing
Ministry of Agriculture
8 January 2025

Via e-mail: T.McClay@ministers.govt.nz

Dear Minister,

Recent investigations by PETA Asia-Pacific have uncovered harrowing acts of cruelty on ZQ-certified farms, bringing global attention to systemic abuse in the wool industry in New Zealand. Despite claims by the industry that such instances are “not the standard,” the overwhelming evidence from inside New Zealand’s shearing sheds paints a very different picture—one of entrenched and widespread suffering as well as a lack of genuine oversight.

These consistent disavowals are not working. Anyone who fails to find cruelty in the industry must be walking up to the sheds with a bullhorn to announce their arrival. To demonstrate true transparency and accountability, we call on the government to mandate live-streaming web cameras in all shearing sheds, including on ZQ-certified farms across the country.

This step is essential for two important reasons:

1. Transparency: If the wool industry is confident that abuse is not systemic, web cameras provide an opportunity to prove it.
2. Accountability: Real-time monitoring would discourage abusive practices and ensure that farm owners are fully aware of what is occurring on their properties.

The public has the right to know whether meaningful action is being taken or whether this investigation will show yet another attempt by the wool industry to sweep abuse under the rug.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,
Jason Baker
Senior Vice President
PETA Asia-Pacific

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