Animal lover Tara takes SAFE step

DEFENDER OF ANIMALS: SAFE worker and animal rescuer Tara Swan, with dog Dozer, says she loves being able to advocate for "millions of animals".

Tara Swan has gone from bringing home baby birds as a child, to running her own home-based rescue service, to representing New Zealand's leading animal advocacy organisation.

Mt Bruce resident Tara has been working as a supporter engagement co-ordinator with Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE) for the past month.

SAFE is one of the country's oldest and best known animal rights campaigners in New Zealand, recently making headlines for its exposure of cruel treatment of bobby calves on some dairy farms, and its protests against rodeo events.

With SAFE, Tara spends her days organising fundraisers, engaging with businesses about ethical practices, helping with awareness on issues such as factory farming or animal testing, and even organising demonstrations.

It's a significant step on to the national stage for the animal lover, who would help hand-rear baby finches in her backyard.

"It was an opportunity to save animals on a bigger scale," said Tara said.

"Instead of one or two animals, you're helping change policies which can have a huge effect -- you're acting on behalf of millions.

"Things don't happen overnight, but there are a lot of little victories."

Tara, originally from London, said she has been "a mad animal nut" since childhood.

"I was the kid who was always bringing home frogs and baby birds," she said.

On moving to New Zealand, she studied ecology at Victoria University and began volunteering at Pukaha Mount Bruce.

While at Pukaha, she and partner Jess started All Bird Rescue Wairarapa, a bird rehabilitation facility from their home.

The couple cared for "every type of bird", from lost ducklings to newly-hatched, syringe-fed finches, to moreporks and pukeko hit by cars, to hawks with broken wings, all with the aim of releasing them into the wild.

"It was very rewarding, although I wanted to pet and carry all the cute babies. But birds don't need the love and cuddles.

"They just need to be let be to do their own thing.

"You do get attached to them, though - we had a stilt who, when we released her into the wild, flew around us several times before taking off.

"That felt like a little reward".

Tara's interest in activism was sparked while living on a dairy farm -- where she found seeing cows' distress when their calves were removed "traumatic".

The defining moment came when a cow, stressed by the loss of her calf, climbed into her lap.

"You see some of them jump through fences to get to their babies while they're loaded onto the trucks.

"One cow was particularly upset, and my dog jumped into my lap to get away from her -- she followed and I got some fantastic bruises.

"I realised she was just doing what was natural for her - protecting her baby."

Tara has begun work on major national campaigns, raising awareness of cruelty to rodeo animals and encouraging supermarkets to stop caged eggs.

So far, thanks to encouragement from Tara's team, House of Travel has ceased sponsoring rodeo events, and she is currently in negotiations with Countdown to name a date by which caged eggs will be phased out.

"The campaigns to ban battery cages were successful, but they're being replaced by colony cages, which are about the size of an A4 piece of paper.

"Hens can barely spread their wings, or take a side-step."

Tara also helped organise a protest against rodeo cruelty at the recent Pukemanu Bull Ride in Martinborough.

"It went well, though some of the rodeo supporters started throwing things at the end.

"But people are really psyched -- I keep getting emails asking when the next protest is."

Later in the year, Tara will work on campaigns to ban lead shot from duck shooting and to encourage retailers and the government to phase out colony cages.