Welfare
Specific information related to the welfare of animals.
Trapping best practice from Predator Free NZ
Introduced predators don’t belong here – but it is important to remove them in a humane way that avoids or minimises pain, suffering and distress – both to target and non-target animals.
All the traps we recommend have passed the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) guidelines which means they kill humanely and are easy to use and maintain.
Welfare performance of animal traps
The following information relates to the welfare performance of traps used in New Zealand for capturing and/or killing small to medium-sized mammals. The tests relate to the welfare performance of the traps, NOT to their capture efficiency, safety, costs, or target specificity.
Companion Cats Code of Welfare summary
Establishing the fundamental obligations relating to the care of companion cats
Code of Welfare for Dogs summary
Establishing the fundamental obligations relating to the care of dogs
Traps & devices: Guidelines and resources
New Zealand restricts the sale and use of traps under the Animal Welfare Act 1999. Find out about traps and the regulations.
National Cat Management Strategy
National Cat Management Strategy Discussion Paper
Humane and Effective Vertebrate Pest Control: A Review of Best Practice Management (pdf 466 KB)
MPI's best practice review for vertebrate control ensuring that the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act are met.
Possum control and animal welfare (pdf 338 KB)
Critical to OSPRI’s work towards eradicating bovine tuberculosis (TB) from New Zealand is the need to reduce possum numbers and keep them low over an extended period of time. A range of control methods are used to accomplish this including traps (kill-traps and live-traps) and toxic baits.
Trap Testing Summary Table (pdf 157 KB)
NAWAC 09 guideline test status of traps that are marketed for and/or in potential significant use for targeting the listed pest species.
Trap testing guidelines: National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) (pdf 311 KB)
To enable the welfare performance of traps to be assessed in a standardised way, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) has developed a trap-testing guideline.