Ceremonial Pig Killings Create High-Level Stir in New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in New Zealand resigned as patron of an animal protection group Sunday after charges that he clubbed two pigs to death in ritual ceremonies.
The governor-general, Sir Paul Reeves, former Anglican primate of New Zealand, said he had resigned as patron of the Auckland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Earlier, the society said the group had received complaints about the killings, which occurred during Reeves’ official visit to the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu last month.
One squealing pig presented by local chiefs reportedly was killed with four club blows to the head. The other, drugged unconscious, was killed in another ceremony.
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