Media Release

16 July 2013

Animal Advocates gather in Wellington for Conference

Advocates for the rights of animals, will be joined by international guest speakers, including a former merchant banker from Australia, an award winning journalist from the United States and a scientist from Canada, at the Aotearoa Animal Rights Conference in Wellington on 26 and 27 July.

A collective of concerned groups and individuals from SAFE (Save Animals From Exploitation), The Animal Protection Society Inc and Veg Victoria University Wellington are organising the event.

SAFE Managing Director Debra Ashton says animal testing, factory farming and the review of the Animal Welfare Act will be high on the agenda.

“The event will bring together both longtime advocates and newcomers from all over New Zealand, to a movement, which continues to grow amid increased concerns about the welfare of animals and their rights.”

International speakers include Philip Wollen, philanthropist and founder of the Winsome Kindness Trust in Melbourne. Philip is a former merchant banker and was once named by an Australian business magazine as one of the 40 top headhunted executives in Australia. He has been named Australian of the Year (Victoria) and has received the Medal of the Order of Australia.

A leading authority on animal rights and environmental movements and civil liberties post 9/11, Will Potter is an award-winning journalist and author from Washington. D.C. He testified before the U.S. Congress about his reporting as the only witness opposing the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Troy Seidle is the Director of Research and Toxicology for HSI (Humane Society International). He will be in Wellington as part of a global campaign against animals being used in cosmetic testing. Seidle is a former public representative on inspections of Canadian animal research facilities and has witness first-hand the plight of animals in laboratories. He holds an honors health sciences degree and is a visiting scientist at the faculty of biology at the University of Konstanz in Germany.

ENDS

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