Save Animals From Exploitation (Safe) is petitioning the Ministry for Primary Industries to stop people from producing video content ofa sexual nature directly involving cows.
The organisation said it was “deeply concerning” to see mother cows who are “already being exploited for their reproductive systems” being used in videos posted by the Instagram influencers.
New Zealand adult creator Layla Kelly spoke out on behalf of herself and her two fellow creators, @itsthatkiwigirl and Chelsea Terese, who were accused of unethical behaviour.
The videos, some of which have been seen by the Herald, show women in bikinis performing routine farm tasks such as milking cows and sweeping the milking shed.
In one video, three women are seen kneeling beside a cow while they’re sprayed across the face with fresh milk.
“I trust the authorities will continue to monitor the situation closely, in case we do something even crazier next time, like wear lingerie on a tractor. Actually…we already did that too. My bad," Kelly said.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said it was now speaking to the social media content creators about the footage.
“While an initial assessment of the video shows no breaches of the Animal Welfare Act, we will talk to the person involved to gather more information and satisfy ourselves that the animals are being properly cared for,” said MPI director of compliance and response Glen Burrell.
The ministry had also referred the content to police for their assessment.
Andrew Hoggard, Associate Minister of Agriculture, said he had seen SAFE’s press release but was not aware of any animal welfare breaches.
“As Animal Welfare Minister, I regularly meet with dedicated community groups working to improve animal welfare. These groups are different from SAFE, who oppose all animal farming – their livestock welfare views shouldn’t be taken seriously. If anyone sees potential animal welfare breaches, please report them to MPI.”