Are DOC, AHB and Regional Councils guilty of Cruelty to animals?

Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock is asking the Minister of Agriculture, David Carter, to clarify whether the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill 2010 that increases the penalty for cruelty to animals from three years' imprisonment to five years will apply to DOC, AHB and Regional Councils.

The current law states; A person commits an offence who, being the owner of, or a person in charge of, an animal,—
(c) kills the animal in such a manner that the animal suffers unreasonable or unnecessary pain or distress.

"If cruelty to animals is to be discouraged then surely it should apply to all animals. When DOC poisons possums, deer, pigs, horses, sheep, cattle and our native birds through the aerial application of 1080, what example are they setting for the nation," said Mr Baldock.

"Will the minister apply the tougher sentences to these Government agencies and departments, or is it going to be another case of the Government being exempt from the laws they apply to the people?"

"If anyone has any doubts about the cruelty of 1080 they should look at the evidence presented by the Graff brothers' documentary edited in the youtube clips below.

“I ask the SPCA to raise their voice on behalf of all animals, not just those that have been domesticated," Mr Baldock said.
"If a cat or dog suffers cruel pain and deserves the protection of the law, why not a possum or deer,”he asked?

Obscene Cruelty Part `
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrCQZ1B4ks0

Obscene Cruelty Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gCwIxIOxds

ENDS

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