Hunter Valley Station in Central Otago, owned by former American TV host Matt Lauer. Photo: RNZ
The New Zealand Merino Company says it will investigate claims of animal cruelty by an animal rights group - and could expel farms from its ethical wool accreditation programme if it finds they've been mistreating sheep.
This week People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released an exposé into 11 farms and shearing sheds, including Hunter Valley Station in Central Otago, owned by former American TV host Matt Lauer.
Video footage the group said had been taken at Hunter Valley showed workers standing on a sheep's neck, dragging sheep across the floor, sewing up a bloody wound without painkillers, "and other atrocities".
PETA says video footage captured on New Zealand farms exposes the cruelty involved in sheep shearing. Photo: Supplied / PETA Asia
PETA said all farms targeted in its investigation supplied ZQ-certified wool, which described itself as the "world's leading ethical wool brand".
To earn ZQ certification, farms must meet standards for fibre quality, animal welfare and health, social responsibility and environmental care.
PETA senior vice president Jason Baker said the footage showed ZQ certification was a "sham", and he called on high-profile customers such as Allbirds and Icebreaker to "reject cruelty" and use vegan materials instead.
However, the New Zealand Merino Company (NZM) - which owns the ZQ standard - said Hunter Valley Station was not, and had never been, a supplier to the ZQ certification programme.
Hunter Valley was the only farm named by PETA so it was not clear how many properties featured in the videos, or whether they were ZQ-certified.
PETA says video footage captured on New Zealand farms exposes the cruelty involved in sheep shearing. Photo: Supplied / PETA Asia
NZM chief executive Angus Street said the footage, showing "several instances of animal abuse", was confronting and upsetting.
"NZM does not tolerate breaches of animal welfare guidelines. We are committed to investigating all allegations and urge PETA to provide us more detail about filming locations and the timing of the recordings.
"Should any ZQ-accredited farms be identified during the investigation, alongside the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries and our third-party audit body Control Union, we will take all necessary and appropriate action, up to and including expulsion from the programme," the spokesperson said.
PETA said it had handed its evidence over to the Ministry for Primary Industries, which confirmed it was investigating.
Graeme Todd, a lawyer for Lauer, earlier told RNZ his client had nothing to do with day-to-day farming on Hunter Valley Station.
Lauer's company leased the right to farm the property to Hunter Valley Farming Co Limited, which had hired shearing contractors.
Despite that, Lauer's company, Orange Lakes (NZ) Ltd, was taking the allegations seriously and carrying out its own investigation, Todd said.
Hunter Valley Farming Co Ltd hung up when phoned by RNZ but later provided a statement saying the company was also investigating, and would cooperate fully with MPI's enquiries.
Meanwhile, Federated Farmers called the exposé "a disgraceful hit job by PETA" and said most New Zealand farmers would not tolerate the "isolated examples of poor practice" highlighted in the video.
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