WIN: Gaining trust and forming unified goals with major animal science and research industry stakeholders in order to demonstrate to the NZ Government a unified desire to replace the use of animals in science wherever possible.
There are no wins without the work. This work took several years but together, we did it!
The issue: Any government will be reluctant to make law and policy changes if it faces major resistance from powerful stakeholders. Put bluntly, we know that ‘business’ does not always mix with ‘public good’, and until you can conquer that barrier, and show the government a sense of consensus on both sides of the spectrum, then change for animals will take even longer.
The solution: We invited more than 100 organisations from the animal science and research industry to provide feedback on our Striking at the Source petition, which asks the NZ Government to:
We canvassed critical organisations, such as:
And many more, provided feedback, where possible
Tactics included:
The New South Wales government of Australia, in early 2023, launched a $7 million AUD (7.6m NZD) fund targeting animals used in science! $4.5 million will be directed towards replacing and reducing the use of animals in science, while the remaining $2.5 million will go towards existing animals needing to be rehomed. Funding like this would be welcomed by NZAVS and the science community in Aotearoa.
Together with you, we will continue to work with the animal science and research community until the NZ Government plays catch up with other countries and delivers on funding.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the many NZ institutes that took the time to provide feedback on our petition requests. Providing such valuable input wasn’t a requirement – these institutes did so because they wanted to. A promising sign for the future!
We would also like to thank our strong-thinking supporter base for trusting us to forge relationships with the animal research and science industry to ultimately make faster, stronger, and longer-lasting change for animals used for science.