New Zealanders care about animals. Your Government should too.

SPCA, as the largest and oldest animal advocacy organisation in the country, regularly engages with parties across the political spectrum in order to promote evidence-based policies which align with our mission.

Animal welfare consistently commands strong public support across political, regional, and demographic lines in New Zealand.For elected leaders, it represents a rare area of enduring consensus: that animals deserve protection from unreasonable and unnecessary harm, and that government has a role in setting and enforcing those standards.

This election, we intend to let you know where the parties stand on our key priorities for animal protection.

SPCA has outlined our top ten priorities for the incoming government that will ensure that animals are protected in line with the values of New Zealanders.

We know that our supporters want to see laws strengthened in order to reduce the number of roaming dogs, to address the overpopulation of cats, and to ban the private use of fireworks. We support the end of cages in farming – and expect the same standards to apply to imported animal products. We want to see the current direction continue on ending greyhound racing and protecting the ban on live exports. And we want an animal welfare system that actually works: one that is modernised through an updated National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, and properly resourced with funding for education, desexing programmes, and enforcement.

Read about the top ten actions here: SPCA 2026 Policy Recommendations