Happy World Animal Day! To celebrate we visited Parliament with our collaborative partners at SAFE and officially delivered our Forced Swim Test petition.

Over 25,000 people signed the petition asking for a ban on this test in NZ – an incredible achievement!

The petition is asking for the NZ government to not only ban the Forced Swim Test in NZ but to also conduct a full review and evaluation on the validity of animal-based psychological tests in NZ.

The event involved inspiring speeches from Green MP Gareth Hughes, SAFE Campaigner Nellie Lyon and NZAVS Executive Director Tara Jackson. You can watch these speeches here. Also, see a short video summarising our event below:

Today has left us feeling empowered, energised and ready for the next stage of the campaign!

This is not the end of the Forced Swim Test campaign. We will still need to do more work to encourage decision-makers to make a positive change and we also need to continue encouraging Victoria University to end the use of this cruel and archaic test. We hope that we will continue to have your support as we continue to work hard defending animals so wrongly used in the name of science.

Today was also an exciting moment to celebrate what we have achieved so far. We are all very proud of the work that NZAVS, SAFE and our thousands of supporters have accomplished together this past six months. Together we are a powerful voice for animals!

Stay tuned for updates on the campaign and further steps that you can take to help see this petition through to success.