Former American TV show host Matt Lauer is being linked by animal rights activists with alleged abuse during shearing at Hunter Valley Station near Lake Hāwea.
Mr Lauer bought the lease of 10,000ha, including the high country sheep farm, on the northern shores of Lake Hawea for more than $17.5 million in 2017.
He leased part of the land to the Cochrane family and is not involved with the operation of the farm, called Hunter Valley Farming.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) today revealed the results of an investigation into the Asia-Pacific wool industry.
It included claims sheep at Hunter Valley Farming appeared to get struck, with some needing stitches during the shearing process, and posted a video to YouTube.
However, Peta is facing claims it picked out a few incidents to tarnish shearing in general. It also did not report incidents immediately.
'Disgraceful hit job'
Federated Farmers said it was a "disgraceful hit job" and Peta wanted people to think its footage from a few farms was what all farming practices in New Zealand looked like.
"In reality, what you’re seeing in that video is a montage showing some isolated examples of poor practice that most Kiwi farmers simply wouldn’t put up with in their shearing shed," its meat and wool chairman, Toby Williams, told the Otago Daily Times today.
New Zealand farmers had high animal welfare standards, he said.
"We don’t actually make any money from shearing. It’s a cost we have to carry to keep our sheep healthy. Selling the wool doesn’t even cover the cost of the shearing these days.
"If we didn’t shear our sheep, they’d be pretty uncomfortable, at risk of overheating, and be really susceptible to parasites and disease."
Mr Williams said Peta should "hang their heads in shame for this disgusting attack on New Zealand sheep farmers".
"I think most people will see straight through them and realise it’s all just an attempt to push their extreme anti-farming agenda."
No knowledge of problems: Lauer
Peta’s report on Hunter Valley Farming included descriptions of sheep allegedly being cut during the shearing process as they struggle with shearers.
Other alleged incidents involved the animals being lifted off the ground and dropped onto the hard floor, and then pushed through a chute that leads to their pen.
Peta president Ingrid Newkirk told The New York Post that sheep were ‘‘routinely hit, beaten in the face, and stitched up with needle and thread with no pain medication’’.
“Matt Lauer’s New Zealand getaway is hell for scared sheep who are flung about, pinned down and cut up.
“Peta wants Lauer to wash his hands of the bloody wool business.”
Mr Lauer reportedly sold his $US44 million ($NZ78 million) home in the Hamptons in 2022, partly so he could spend more time at his New Zealand home, The Post reported.
A spokesperson for Mr Lauer told The Post he had “absolutely no knowledge of any alleged problems at his property” until The Post reached out for comment.
“[Lauer] was deeply disturbed and saddened to hear of what allegedly has happened, and immediately launched his own investigation of his tenant’s operations, which is currently under way,” the representative told The Post, adding that Peta had never contacted him with any complaints.
“When all the facts are known, he will take immediate and appropriate actions.”
Peta acknowledged to the paper that it did not contact Mr Lauer about the alleged abuse at the farm.
“When we notify companies and individuals implicated in our investigations, their usual reaction is to deny, deflect, and downplay the cruelty uncovered,” a Peta spokesperson said.
“Publicly releasing undercover investigations before notifying implicated parties, like Mr Lauer, holds them responsible and makes it impossible for them to ignore the cruelty they have the power to stop.”
Digby Cochrane and his wife, Hannah, who have operated Hunter Valley Farming for decades, told the paper Mr Lauer had contacted them in the past week to discuss Peta’s allegations.
“At shearing time we employ independent shearing contractors, to shear the sheep, who work in accordance with New Zealand industry accepted guidelines and practices,” the Cochranes said in a statement to The Post.
Mr Lauer's company - Orange Lakes (NZ) Limited - is carrying out an investigation into PETA's claims.
"These are extremely serious allegations that have been made and he's taking them seriously," Graeme Todd, a New Zealand-based lawyer for Mr Lauer, told RNZ.
"We alerted the Overseas Investment Office. We don't own the stock or plant - it's owned by a totally separate entity and that entity has contracted independent shearing contractors."
Mr Todd, also a director of Orange Lakes (NZ) Limited, said they would have more to say once their investigation was complete.
"We are taking the matter extremely seriously because at the end of the day the company owns the farm, and while we haven't got anything to do with it, this group [PETA] is trying to link the actions to Matt, which is a nonsense."
“The horrific abuse that was documented at Hunter Valley is typical across wool operations,” Peta’s Jacqueline Sadashige, manager of corporate responsibility, told The Post.
Award-winning shearer Jills Angus Burney told The New Zealand Herald Peta was "cherry-picking" its findings.
A minority of shearers could be “rough” or do a “bad job”.
"I can assure you, and you can assure your readers, that when we teach people to shear sheep, we teach people to shear so that they are handling the animals with care."
Due to the nature of the shearing process, nicks happened, she said.
Ms Angus Burney told the Herald the people who shot the footage shared by Peta should have reported what they saw immediately.
'Attack' on wool industry
In 2017, Federated Farmers' then-meat and fibre chairman Miles Anderson said farmers were "mystified and frustrated' by an "attack" by Peta on the wool industry.
The implication shearing sheep was cruel or mistreatment was mystifying to most Kiwis, let alone farmers, he said.
Sheep grew wool and if they were not shorn there would be animal welfare issues, such as fly strike or discomfort, he said.
Mr Anderson said New Zealand farmers took the welfare of their sheep seriously and had high standards that they and all those involved with animals, including shearers, maintained as a point of pride.
The industry was working together to ensure all involved were well trained to maintain these standards.
Shortly after the lease deal, Mr Lauer was fired from being an anchor on the Today show after several women accused him of sexual misconduct. He was not charged and denied all allegations.
The Overseas Investment Office took a closer look at his application in terms of whether there was a breach of the condition of good character, but later said there was insufficient evidence to take proceedings against Mr Lauer.
Peta investigation
In a news release today, Peta said its "damning" investigation into farms that supplied ZQ-certified wool - which is sold by companies Allbirds, Smartwool, Fjällräven, Loro Piana, Helly Hansen, among others - revealed workers "beating and kicking terrified sheep, stomping and standing on their necks, and violently throwing the animals down chutes, among other cruel acts".
Without specifying which farms it worked on under cover, it said its footage captured on New Zealand farms showed workers whipping, tackling, and hitting sheep with various objects, including the metal tip of a ski pole.
"One shearer repeatedly slammed a sheep’s head against a hard wooden board while hurling expletive-laden threats at her. Several sheep were left with gaping wounds that were then crudely stitched up without any painkillers."
Peta identified a case where it seemed a crowded enclosure led to a sheep being smothered to death.
"Workers later hauled her corpse out of the enclosure and sheared the wool from her dead body," the release said.
On another farm, a Peta Asia-Pacific undercover investigator witnessed an ailing sheep collapse multiple times over two days and was later killed, the group said.
"The decomposing remains of several more sheep were found scattered around many ZQ-certified properties - and one of the farmers noted that he could be “reported for having dead animals around the place".
Garments made with ZQ-certified wool were tied to "the suffering of sheep who likely endured violent beatings, painful injuries from rough shearing and were ultimately slaughtered or discarded like trash", Peta senior vice president Jason Baker said.
Peta called on Allbirds, Smartwool, and other brands to reject "this sham label" and said the only humane decision was to choose vegan products.
Peta said it had turned over the evidence to New Zealand officials and was urging them to investigate and file appropriate charges.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed it was investigating.
"MPI has received a complaint and video clips alleging mistreatment of sheep by some shearers," South animal welfare manager Peter Hyde said.
"We note some of the allegations date back to 2023."
