Dear Ministry for Primary Industries,

Section 189 Animal welfare act provides for conditons to be imposed on the RNZSPCA

A search of gazette notices has not revealed any conditions

The RNZSPCA no longer has any branches or member societies and has dramatically changed its structure since 1999.

The RNZSPCA is a private organisation and prosecutions must be undertaken in accordance with the criminal proceedure act

It appears that the RNZSPCA has been using crown prosecutors for their prosecutions

By way of OIA please provide all agreements ,mou's , conditions which

1. take into account the removal of branches and member societies of the RNZSPCA

2. performance and technical standards which allow for the crown to prosecute for and on behalf of the as though the RNZSPCA is a crown entity

3. provisons which apply with regards to the crown undertaking prosecutions for this private organisation e.g. who has to ensure that the solictor generals guide lines are followed

4. Compliance with section 122 .. has this been reviewed with regards to 122(d) and122 (e) and how are inspectors held properly answerable to the organisation

5. when Inspectors are seizing animals without documentation and euthanising dogs without written consent who holds them accountable the Director general or the RNZSPCA

6. What investigations has the Director general undertaken into conduct of the RNZSPCA staff with regards to the prosecution of Wallance and Glover where the crown prosecutted and there was no chain of evidence due to the inspectors failing to record microchip numbers at the time of seizing the animals . without that chain of evidence there could not have been any evidence that the animals seized were those examined by the vets hence there could not have been compliance with the solictor generals prosecution guide lines .

7. I refer to OIA 23-003 there appears to be a misinterpretation between the MPI and the SPCA as to who is resonsible for the conduct of an inspector , section 124 & 126 place them under the control of the director general but it appears that the director genreal has no over sight even to the extent that the MPI was unaware as to who employed Plowright OIA20-0861 if that is the case how does the MPI assess 122 (d) and how was the application for inspector advanced if ther MPI had no evidence as to who Plowright was employed by

8 . in 2019 Spca inspectors, including Plowright removed several dogs from the Glover property and were subsequently returned by the chief inspector in dec 2019 . please advise what investigations have been conducted into theses unlawful seizurse and what action was taken with rergards to the inspectors not acting in accordance to the legislative requirtements

9. History appears to be repeating itself and more dogs have been removed from the new owners of the volkerson kennels .again without any adherence to the legislative requirements , what oversight is being provided by the director general into the conduct of SPCA officers to ensure that they comply with their legislative obligations

the action of these inspectors and the continued action proves that the RNZSPCA cannot be trusted with the powers under the animal welfare act .

The RNZSPCA is no longer a" volunteer" based organisation and appears to be a commercial business( the former chair and current chair have set up an investment company INVESTUS EQUITIES LIMITED ) and has no apparent accountability to the public , it is not about animal welfare and uses the crown solictors office to portray this private organisation as a crown entity to the courts with total disregards the requirements of the criminal proceedure act
Back ground
Gordon trainer restructured the SPCA investus capital was set up 03 Sep 2020
from https://investus.co.nz/
"Gordon qualified as a CA in Edinburgh in 1984 and moved to New Zealand in 1988. He is a senior executive and highly qualified finance professional with a broad range of taxation, financial and commercial skills gained from over 20 years of experience as a tax professional in international big four accounting firms, supplemented with 15 years of hands-on experience in entrepreneurial and listed corporate environments.

Gordon has held a number of governance roles over the last decade including chair of SPCA Auckland from 2009 until 2017 and chair of SPCA New Zealand from 2016 until January 2021."

"David has a passion for property and has been creating successful property investment partnerships for over 15 years. He has experience in property development, subdivision and long-term property investment.

During an eight-year career at Bank of New Zealand which included time as an executive analyst, business partner, and as a partner specialising in property finance; he gained significant insights into the risks and rewards of investing in property, a thorough understanding of financing commercial property acquisitions, and developed a diverse range of skills from a successful career in professional services.

David has over 10 years Governance experience and was recently elected Board Chairman for SPCA NZ."

Yours faithfully,

Grace Haden