Stars sign up to prevent animal cruelty

Bonnie Soper from Shortland Street stars in the Paw Justice campaign. Screengrab / Paw Justice

Kiwi celebrities are putting their names to a new campaign tackling animal abuse in New Zealand.

An organisation called Paw Justice has launched a petition to increase the maximum jail sentence for animal abuse or neglect.

The petition calls for Parliament to increase the sentence for neglect from 6 months to one year, and for wilful ill-treatment from 3 years to 5 years.

Promotional videos for the campaign are fronted by an assortment of Kiwi stars, including Lucy Lawless, Erika Takacs and cast members from Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune.

Paw Justice expresses concern that animal abuse has 'grown at an alarming rate' in New Zealand, and the website provides many gruesome examples of pets that have been tortured and killed in New Zealand recently.

The campaign is supported by the SPCA.

The petition is available here.

- NZ HERALD STAFF