Liberate

‘By changing her life from a livestock farmer to a vegan animal rights activist she has shown that anything is possible’ – Hans Kriek (from S.A.F.E.)

As S.A.F.E. so rightly put it on their website, the New Zealand Animal Rights movement lost one of its greatest members with the death of Betty Rowe earlier this year. On the 18th of May, Betty passed away after having suffered a stroke just 2 weeks earlier.

Betty and her late husband, Walt, came to New Zealand from the States in the early 70’s with the intention of becoming sheep farmers on Arapawa Island. Arapawa Island lies in the Queen Charlotte Sounds and is home to an endangered (but introduced) breed of goats, known as the Arapawa Goat. The New Zealand Forest Service (and later the Department of Conservation) planned to kill these goats. In her own words Betty could ‘just not let this happen’. The goats held an immediate attraction for Betty because of their beauty and intelligence and over time she began to know the different family groups.

Betty began to fight against these killings using tactics such as lobbying, protesting and awareness raising. Eventually Betty and Walt became vegan and gave up farming, turning their 300 odd acres into a sanctuary for over 100 of the endangered goats. Since then, Betty has worked tirelessly for these goats and while the killings have not stopped entirely they have significantly reduced in scale and a viable population of the goats has been preserved.

Betty was a great supporter of the Animal Rights Movement and would often attend conferences and help out with donations where she could. She inspired many activists around the country and many visited Betty, Walt and the goats over the years. Through island visits Betty taught many people, young and old alike, about the principles of species preservation and respect for animals.

The goats have lost a great friend.

Please help to keep the goats safe and Betty’s dream alive. Betty set up the Arapawa Wildlife Trust, they can be contacted C/- the Arapawa Wildlife Sanctuary, Private Bag, Picton. Donations are also greatly appreciated; please deposit these into the Arapawa Rescue
account 39-9000-0223555-01.