Footage showing a bull being chased down and struck by two four-wheelers on the Chatham Islands has been posted online by people who say the animal was being killed for dog food.
The video, posted by the Chatham Islands Outdoors Instagram account, shows two four-wheelers pursuing the bull across openground.
Men can be heard shouting and laughing during the pursuit as one vehicle closes in on the animal before striking it and knocking it down, the other vehicle is then briefly seen driving on to the animal.
In a caption accompanying the footage, the account acknowledged the video “might kick up a bit of a fuss”, but defended the practice as a reality of life on the remote islands.
“This is one of the ways us boys get tucker for our dogs here on the Chatham Islands,” the post said.
The account said the cattle were wild and had become a pest, damaging land and wandering on to roads where they had caused crashes.
“Last year, MPI [the Ministry for Primary Industries] carried out a major cull to help bring the numbers under control with over a couple thousand wild cattle getting killed and going to waste,” the post says.
“Instead of letting good meat go to waste, we make use of what’s available to us.”
It said one animal could feed the dogs for about a month.
“The meat gets put to good use, the dogs are well fed and we’re making use of an animal that otherwise needs to be controlled anyway.”
“It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fair enough, but it’s part of the reality of living and working down here.”
In comments beneath the video, one person wrote “Wouldn’t of hurt the bull! Just taught em a Lesson [sic]”.
The account responded: “Bang on bro the bike weighs nothing compared to that bull.”
Other commenters described the footage as “ruthless”, while another wrote: “Fk that be a bit of a rush bro. Wicked.”
Joanna Tuckwell, the Ministry for Primary Industries’ manager animal welfare and NAIT compliance – co-ordination and liaison said it was aware of the incident and was looking into it.
“The behaviour in the video falls well short of acceptable animal welfare standards,” she said.
“Just like any other animal, feral cattle should be treated humanely.”
Under the Animal Welfare Act, it was an offence to wilfully or recklessly ill-treat animals, including those in the wild, she said.
TheSPCA has been approached for comment, as has Chatham Islands Outdoors.
