Millions of chicks are sent offshore each year.

OPINION: Late last year, a power cut and system failure killed nearly 200,000 chickens at a farm in Helensville.

The fate of these chickens shocked and horrified many, and prompted the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to investigate following media coverage.

This got me thinking about another industry, where thousands of chickens can die regularly for any manner of reasons, but this is not considered significant enough to inform MPI. It is "perfectly legal" for these chickens to be kept in cramped boxes for hours on end.

I am talking about the live export of chickens, a horrific trade that most New Zealanders know nothing about.

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Even when I speak with people involved in the animal rights movement, many believe live export is a horror inflicted only on cows and sheep. They are shocked to learn the fate of our baby birds.

Hatcheries select baby chicks for export at only one day old. Once she hatches from her egg, the baby chick expects to see her mother. Instead, she is placed in a box.

With thousands of other chicks, she is then flown overseas to be raised in a factory farm – she is barely two days old upon arrival.

The export of these chicks isn't even covered by live animal export regulations. It's covered by the Animal Products Act 1999, which applies to the export of animal material and animal products.

STUFF In 2015, 45,110 mated ewe hoggets were shipped to Mexico but sheep exports have tailed off since then. (File photo)

These chicks are treated like products, not sentient living beings who can feel pain and joy.

The live export industry treats fish even worse. They're recorded by the tonne, so these sentient beings aren't even considered as individuals.

According to Seafood NZ, 145 tonnes of live finfish were exported in 2018. MPI doesn't include fish on their live animal export web page and fish are exempt from requiring animal welfare certification before export.

I was very pleased when the Agriculture Minister, Damien O'Connor, announced he would be reviewing the live export trade.

New Zealand's live export trade is under review.

But I was subsequently surprised to learn he would only instruct MPI to look at the export of cows, sheep, goats and deer. The last time New Zealand exported deer was in 2015.

We don't know how many fish in total were exported alive in 2018, but we do know that 99 per cent of all farmed animals that New Zealand exported that year were day-old chicks.

This means the review is considering less than 1 per cent of live animal exports. It is a hollow gesture designed to appear to be taking the public's concern seriously.

Meanwhile, MPI is growing the live export trade – live cow exports last year grew by 180 per cent compared to 2018.

The review closes for public submission today, and any announcements from the review aren't expected to be enforced until December.

New Zealand's Animal Welfare Act 1999 recognises fish and chicks as sentient individuals, with the same capacity to suffer as other animals.

The only way to protect the welfare of New Zealand animals is to keep them in New Zealand.

This review needs to at least recommend a complete ban on the live export of cows, sheep, goats and deer and to begin to acknowledge the other animals who suffer because of this trade.

Mona Oliver is a campaigns officer at Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe).

The amount of live finfish exported has been corrected