SPCA can't afford to prosecute in many cases due to underfunding, chief executive says

New Zealanders should not be surprised by a recent study showing that only 62 prosecutions were made out of 15,584 complaints to the SPCA last year, the animal welfare agency's chief executive told Breakfast today. 

The SPCA can't afford to prosecute in many cases because they are vastly underfunded, Andrea Midgen told the TVNZ1 programme.

The University of Otago's Faculty of Law and Bioethics Centre released the report , along with the startling statistic, last month. The report argued for more funding, and Ms Midgen said today she wholeheartedly agrees.

"As of last year we had $440,000 to deliver a $10 million inspectorate service, this year the Government has given us an extra $1.5 million," she said. 

Even though funding has increased on the previous year, the SPCA remains underfunded, she said.

"We had a Budget bid in for $10 million and we got $1.5 million this year, so it’s a step forward better than last year, but we need to keep pushing on that.”

The SPCA simply does not have the money to prosecute everybody that could be prosecuted, she said. 

However, prosecution of pet and livestock owners isn't the only answer, she suggested, explaining that part of the agency's mission is to change hearts and minds. 

“They could get a formal notice to improve, education, we could ask them to do a number of different things to get the outcomes we want for the animals," she said.