A hospitalised woman who needed surgery after a savage attack by two dogs in Christchurch is questioning why authorities haven't impounded the animals.

Demand for New Zealand dairy livestock in China appears to be booming, with more than 38,000 live animals leaving our shores for Chinese pastures last year.

Almost 20 abandoned animals featured in the Herald's summer papers have found homes.

Those responsible for shooting five domesticated goats, one of which took five days to die, are being warned by police.

Poachers and stock rustlers are being warned by Federated Farmers to find a different line of work.

The majority of New Zealanders do not want recreational drugs tested on animals, a Herald-DigiPoll survey reveals.

More than 360 impounded dogs were killed this year despite being suitable for adoption.

An SPCA inspector is "extremely disappointed" by the sentence imposed on a Dunedin man convicted in relation to a "very disturbing" animal welfare case.

The New Zealand dotterel breeding season this year has been fraught with nest losses mainly due to predation.

An Auckland cat owner is hoping a reward will lead to information about who shot her 1-year-old seal burmese with an airgun.

Drug policy has to start from a base of logic, writes Kevin Tamati. "Peter Dunne has reasoned that it's the health consequences that provide a rationale."

Manufacturers of party pills could be prevented from testing their drugs on animals if they cannot prove it is worth the pain they could potentially cause.

Party pills will be tested on animals before they are allowed to be sold because "human safety is ... paramount", Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says.

Pro-surfer Dave Rastovich was here to help save the threatened Maui's dolphin, but in the end it was them who helped him.

No charges will be laid against a man who horrified dozens of drivers by carrying his dog like a huge handbag while walking on a main road.

The volcanoes of Mordor are erupting right on cue for the Hobbit premiere, but animals have been the problem.

New Zealand has joined Australia in questioning the validity of Japan's whaling for scientific purposes in the Southern Ocean, says MP Murray McCully.

A wrangler at the centre of claims animals were mistreated during filming of The Hobbit stands by his allegations, but says he never intended to tarnish the movie.

Sir Peter Jackson says accusations of animal cruelty are distressing to dedicated staff.

An Eketahuna woman is singing the praises of her english cocker spaniel Izzy after it sniffed out another dog that had been trapped for four days on a sheer cliff face.

A necropsy on a Bryde's whale found dead on Motuihe Island in Hauraki Gulf has confirmed that the whale was hit by a vessel, the Department of Conservation says.