When an attack on a Palmerston North fraud detective made headlines in October 1996, the New Zealand public followed the media reports with fascination. They read like a plot of a Hollywood film or detective novel. Poison pen letters, satanic worship, a police hate crime, and a mysterious and violent pyromaniac. But little did the public know that as the truth emerged, the story was going to get far more bizarre, and the police would turn the focus of their investigation on one of their own.
The Animal Condition chronicles three and a half years of recent Australian history, when animal welfare grew from fringe issue to national focus with protests in the streets. It follows four friends who take an investigative road trip around Australia. Unafraid to ask questions they speak to all sides: industry heavyweights, federal politicians, animal welfare advocates, Indigenous Australians, immigrant factory workers, philosophers and scientists. Views on the subject change with each new encounter, leading to questions about society that go beyond the treatment of animals.