Ministry for Primary Industry figures show a monkey, lizard, prawns and donkeys are among some of the animals it has received welfare complaints about this year.
Beef cattle in Rangiwahia, Manawatu. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
So far, MPI has received 698 animal welfare complaints this year, with sheep and dairy and beef cattle being the subject of 428 of them.
Sixty-one complaints involve horses, 27 on pigs and almost 60 involve calves.
The figures also show a spike in complaints about rodeos, which have risen to 10 this year, up from five in 2014 and none in 2013.
MPI said 159 cases were under investigation, with 103 being dealt with by verbal advice.