The 5Ds in Glorious Technicolour Action . . . by Those Who Would Prefer to Remain Faceless At Masterton District Council
Jordan Kelly • 8 September 2025

And so to the next instalment of the Masterton District Council's Malarkey . . .

As I promised to do, hereunder I am publishing (as a sequel to this utter shame) the latest "correspondence" (for what it is worth, which is NOTHING, as far as that which has come) from Masterton District Council.


In a further article I'll follow up with shortly, I will dissect the exchange in a more granular fashion, to demonstrate to readers how Council management is well-versed in using the "5Ds" against its ratepayers, and Councillors, against their constituents.


The below correspondence is, of course, an email trail - so please read it from the bottom of the page upwards, for correct chronological order of the exchanges.


Despite the Masterton District Council's "CEO" pulling the classic line e.g. We've already responded and no further correspondence will be entered into, he obviously worked out from my response back to that standard blocking stunt, that I wasn't going to be ignored . . . one way or the other.


So he deflected (one of the 5Ds) to this Infrastructure & Asset Manager, to repeat a similarly cut-and-paste style version of what some minion further down the line had previously tried to get rid of me with. Again, reading from the bottom of the trail upwards, here's my response - and the reason my response didn't include a salutation, was that, neither had his or hers, or they's, or whatever.


Here we go: 


(NOTE: The fact that all the Councillors of Masterton District Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council are cc'd into the correspondence would appear to be a moot point, since I await any indication of concern from any over the conduct and attitude that is demonstrated in technicolour in the below correspondence.)

________________



I am writing to you, Mr / Ms Koneferenisi, to point out the obvious elements of – and overall disingenuousness within – your email, which does not in any way answer any of the core questions that have now been asked multiple times (and continue to be vigorously evaded).

 

These questions include but are not limited to (I hereby repeat yet again):

 

  • Why did you advise that you (Masterton District Council) would be letterboxing the correspondence that GWRC provided to you for the purpose (i.e. you had your Customer Service Manager assure me in multiple emails across several months of your supposed plans to do so)? You clearly had no intention at all of conducting the letterboxing exercise yourselves.

 

  • You claim that your staff did not lie to elected representatives / a meeting of Councillors. Yet your staff advised Councillors that a Corin Hayes had made contact with me and was waiting for me to respond. No Corin Hayes had ever made any contact with me and thus was certainly not waiting for me to respond. Thus, you lied in the most direct manner possible to your Councillors. (You also told them “the matter had been dealt with”. You had not dealt with anything.)

 

  • You write: “You were contacted by Terri Mulligan, MDC Environmental Services Manager, on 15 August regarding the matter you raised.” Mr Mulligan’s pointlessly insulting, website-cut-and-paste ilk email was sent to me ONLY after I had emailed all councillors of MDC and GWRC about the issue. Mr Mulligan’s brief, nil-value email evaded all my questions. Further, you would have continued to ignore me or gaslight me via your Customer Services Manager, had the Councillors not been alerted to the matter.

 

  • This statement is a disingenuous deflection: “The presence of other heating appliances on a property does not preclude approval of additional compliant installations.” As you well know, this was not my point. My point was that there was a toxic smoke issue related to the same address that you were meant to be investigating and addressing, but instead were ignoring (although were claiming to have been addressing by way of a letterbox drop you did not intend to do) while, in fact, consenting a substantially larger, closer smoke outlet on the same property.

 

 

  • It should be noted that my attempts to have Council communicate (usefully and honestly) with me on this matter started back at the very beginning of 2025. I even offered, several times, to bring in some of the smoke-spoiled clothing in question, so that you could clearly discern for yourselves that the smoke with which it was all irretrievably permeated appeared distinctly that emanating from the burning of household rubbish and/or other toxic materials. Your staff would not accept my suggestion / offer.


  • You write:  “If you experience a smoke nuisance, please contact Masterton District Council on 06 370 6300 to log a service request. Our Environmental Services Team will investigate. Response times are available on our website. If you have a complaint about air quality, please contact Greater Wellington Regional Council on 0800 496 734.”


So, Mr / Ms Koneferenisi, let us deal with the fact that you are disingenuously trying to disconnect the issue of smoke nuisance from air quality, when – in the scenario in question – clearly both are directly inter-linked. If my clothes and linen etc are impregnated with smoke, and I have to discard them and constantly purchase replacements, this is clearly a “nuisance”. Meanwhile, if the toxic smoke / smell carried by the affected clothes and linen etc then transfers to the inside of my home when the clothes are brought indoors, and then to my skin, and then to my lungs, then this is clearly a health issue. 


  • On the above note and regarding your attempts to transfer the responsibility for the issue to GWRC, the Health Act Section 29 states: “Nuisances defined for purposes of this Act: Part (m) – where any chimney . . . of a private dwelling house, sends out smoke in such quantity, or of such nature, or in such manner, as to be offensive or likely to be injurious to health . . .

 

I await a more useful and honest, and far less evasive and disingenuous, response, please.

 

  Jordan Kelly

 

 _______________


From: Maseina Koneferenisi <maseina.koneferenisi@mstn.govt.nz
Sent: Monday, 8 September 2025 8:38 am
To: editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Cc: 'Daran Ponter' <Daran.Ponter@gw.govt.nz>; Adrienne Staples <adrienne.staples@gw.govt.nz>; david.bassett@gw.govt.nz; ros.connelly@gw.govt.nz; quentin.duthie@gw.govt.nz; Penny Gaylor <penny.gaylor@gw.govt.nz>; chris.kb@gw.govt.nz; ken.laban@gw.govt.nz; david.lee@gw.govt.nz; thomas.nash@gw.govt.nz; hikitia.ropata@gw.govt.nz; yadana.saw@gw.govt.nz; simon.woolf@gw.govt.nz; Gary Caffell <garyc@mstn.govt.nz>; Rebecca Johnson <bexj@mstn.govt.nz>; Marama Tuuta <maramat@mstn.govt.nz>; Craig Bowyer <craigb@mstn.govt.nz>; Tim Nelson <timn@mstn.govt.nz>; Tom Hullena <tomh@mstn.govt.nz>; Stella Lennox <stellal@mstn.govt.nz>; David Holmes <davidholmes@mstn.govt.nz>; Brent Goodwin <brentgoodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: Fw: Request for Response from CE, Kym Fell


I am writing in response to your email of 3 September 2025 on behalf of Chief Executive Kym Fell, who is currently on leave.


To address your specific points:


Masterton District Council (MDC) processes building consents for compliant woodburner installations under the Building Act and in accordance with the Ministry for the Environment’s list of approved appliances. Each application is assessed against the Building Code and relevant standards. The presence of other heating appliances on a property does not preclude approval of additional compliant installations.


You were contacted by Terri Mulligan, MDC Environmental Services Manager, on 15 August regarding the matter you raised. On the same date, Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) completed a letter drop to affected residents.


Information provided by council officers to elected members accurately reflected the status of actions taken within each agency’s respective responsibilities. Your statement that MDC staff lied to elected members is incorrect.


For absolute clarity, I reiterate the advice you have already received:


  • If you experience a smoke nuisance, please contact Masterton District Council on 06 370 6300 to log a service request. Our Environmental Services Team will investigate. Response times are available on our website.


  • If you have a complaint about air quality, please contact Greater Wellington Regional Council on 0800 496 734.


To clarify: air quality refers to the overall cleanliness of the air and is monitored by GWRC. A smoke nuisance is a specific, localized issue that may unreasonably affect individuals and is managed by MDC. While smoke nuisance can contribute to poor air quality, the two are not interchangeable.


If you have not already done so, it may be helpful to discuss the matter directly with those you believe are responsible.

 

Regards

 

MASEINA KONEFERENISI

Group Manager - Infrastructure & Assets

@MastertonDC

www.mstn.govt.nz


 ___________________


From: Kym Fell <kym.fell@mstn.govt.nz>
Sent: Tuesday, September 2, 2025 9:43 PM
To: ELT Group <eltgroup@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: Fw: Request for Response from CE, Kym Fell

 

FYI


Get Outlook for iOS


____________________


From: editor@consumeraffairswriter.com <editor@consumeraffairswriter.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 2, 2025 9:29 PM
To: Kym Fell <kym.fell@mstn.govt.nz>
Cc: 'Daran Ponter' <Daran.Ponter@gw.govt.nz>; 'Adrienne Staples' <Adrienne.Staples@gw.govt.nz>; david.bassett@gw.govt.nz <david.bassett@gw.govt.nz>; ros.connelly@gw.govt.nz <ros.connelly@gw.govt.nz>; quentin.duthie@gw.govt.nz <quentin.duthie@gw.govt.nz>; penny.gaylor@gw.govt.nz <penny.gaylor@gw.govt.nz>; chris.kb@gw.govt.nz <chris.kb@gw.govt.nz>; ken.laban@gw.govt.nz <ken.laban@gw.govt.nz>; david.lee@gw.govt.nz <david.lee@gw.govt.nz>; thomas.nash@gw.govt.nz <thomas.nash@gw.govt.nz>; hikitia.ropata@gw.govt.nz <hikitia.ropata@gw.govt.nz>; yadana.saw@gw.govt.nz <yadana.saw@gw.govt.nz>; simon.woolf@gw.govt.nz <simon.woolf@gw.govt.nz>; Gary Caffell <garyc@mstn.govt.nz>; Rebecca Johnson <bexj@mstn.govt.nz>; Marama Tuuta <maramat@mstn.govt.nz>; Craig Bowyer <craigb@mstn.govt.nz>; Tim Nelson <timn@mstn.govt.nz>; Tom Hullena <tomh@mstn.govt.nz>; Stella Lennox <stellal@mstn.govt.nz>; David Holmes <davidholmes@mstn.govt.nz>; Brent Goodwin <brentgoodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: RE: Request for Response from CE, Kym Fell

 

Mr Fell:

 

Why have you consented another (even closer and larger) woodburner / chimney when there are outstanding issues related to the existing woodburner / chimney / emissions on the same property?

 

And why did you advise that you would be letterboxing the correspondence that GWRC provided to you for the purpose (and allow the continuation of email exchanges with me via your Customer Service Manager regarding your supposed plans to do so), when you had no intention at all of conducting the letterboxing exercise?

 

I also require to know why you consider it acceptable for your managerial staff to lie to your elected representatives e.g. about having made contact with me and awaiting my contacting them in return, when no such contact had been made; and also advising a full meeting of councillors that “the matter had been dealt with”, when nothing at all had been dealt with.

 

Telling me you “will not be engaging further on this issue” is spinelessly evasive, and is a continuation of the existing degree of contempt and inflammation of the core issue i.e. refusing to be transparent or accountable.

 

As a ratepayer, I deserve honest and transparent answers, and accountability – starting with who and why the very close proximity second woodburner and chimney were consented while you had advised (dishonestly) that you were addressing the existing emissions issue.

 

I await your answers, and will publish this correspondence trail on The Customer & The Constituent in the interim, for all to see.

 

Jordan Kelly

 

______________________


 

From: Kym Fell <kym.fell@mstn.govt.nz>
Sent: Tuesday, 2 September 2025 9:18 pm
To: editor@consumeraffairswriter.com
Cc: 'Daran Ponter' <Daran.Ponter@gw.govt.nz>; 'Adrienne Staples' <Adrienne.Staples@gw.govt.nz>; david.bassett@gw.govt.nz; ros.connelly@gw.govt.nz; quentin.duthie@gw.govt.nz; penny.gaylor@gw.govt.nz; chris.kb@gw.govt.nz; ken.laban@gw.govt.nz; david.lee@gw.govt.nz; thomas.nash@gw.govt.nz; hikitia.ropata@gw.govt.nz; yadana.saw@gw.govt.nz; simon.woolf@gw.govt.nz; Gary Caffell <garyc@mstn.govt.nz>; Rebecca Johnson <bexj@mstn.govt.nz>; Marama Tuuta <maramat@mstn.govt.nz>; Craig Bowyer <craigb@mstn.govt.nz>; Tim Nelson <timn@mstn.govt.nz>; Tom Hullena <tomh@mstn.govt.nz>; Stella Lennox <stellal@mstn.govt.nz>; David Holmes <davidholmes@mstn.govt.nz>; Brent Goodwin <brentgoodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: RE: Request for Response from CE, Kym Fell

 

Kia ora Jordan,

 

We acknowledge the concerns you have raised regarding smoke emissions from domestic fireplaces. For clarity, responsibility for regulating air quality, including emissions from woodburners, sits with Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) under the Resource Management Act. Masterton District Council’s role is limited to processing building consents for the installation of approved woodburners in line with national standards.

 

As previously advised, if you wish to lodge a complaint about smoke emissions, the correct process is to contact GWRC directly on 0800 496 734. They are the agency with statutory authority to investigate and enforce in this area.

 

We have provided you with all relevant information, and our position on this matter is now clear. Accordingly, Masterton District Council will not be engaging further on this issue.

 

Ngā mihi nui

 

KYM FELL

Chief Executive

 
 
@MastertonDC

www.mstn.govt.nz


 _____________________

 

From: editor@consumeraffairswriter.com <editor@consumeraffairswriter.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 2 September 2025 6:01 pm
To: Kym Fell <kym.fell@mstn.govt.nz>
Cc: 'Daran Ponter' <Daran.Ponter@gw.govt.nz>; 'Adrienne Staples' <Adrienne.Staples@gw.govt.nz>; david.bassett@gw.govt.nz; ros.connelly@gw.govt.nz; quentin.duthie@gw.govt.nz; penny.gaylor@gw.govt.nz; chris.kb@gw.govt.nz; ken.laban@gw.govt.nz; david.lee@gw.govt.nz; thomas.nash@gw.govt.nz; hikitia.ropata@gw.govt.nz; yadana.saw@gw.govt.nz; simon.woolf@gw.govt.nz; Gary Caffell <garyc@mstn.govt.nz>; Rebecca Johnson <bexj@mstn.govt.nz>; Marama Tuuta <maramat@mstn.govt.nz>; Craig Bowyer <craigb@mstn.govt.nz>; Tim Nelson <timn@mstn.govt.nz>; Tom Hullena <tomh@mstn.govt.nz>; Stella Lennox <stellal@mstn.govt.nz>; David Holmes <davidholmes@mstn.govt.nz>; Brent Goodwin <brentgoodwin@mstn.govt.nz>
Subject: Request for Response from CE, Kym Fells

 

Mr Fell:

 

As a ratepayer of the Council district of which you are currently Chief Executive, I would appreciate receiving your (a) acknowledgement, and (b) comprehensive, transparent background explanation as to each of the component issues I raise in my article surrounding the dishonest, contemptuous and highly questionable conduct of your Council staff:  https://www.thecustomer.co.nz/dubious-deceitful-masterton-dc-smelling-very-very-dodgy-so-which-councillors-care

 

Sincerely

Jordan Kelly

Ratepayer

Masterton

 

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by Jordan Kelly 29 March 2026
The story of how unspeakably cruel, unaccountable, intentionally unnamed staff at Massey University's Companion Animal 'Hospital' repeatedly overdosed, abused, tortured, covertly converted private property (my pet) to a University "educational" resource to produce twisted student films on cell phones , while plotting to deceive me, Jordan Kelly, into believing a false sudden "neurological event/decline" diagnosis to coerce me into signing papers for my beloved little papillon, Harry's, immediate "euthanasia" , has now reached all corners of the globe and every shore and region of New Zealand. So too has the corrupt relationship between the national industry "regulator" (so-called), the Veterinary Council of New Zealand, and Massey University, as the two interlinked organisations have scrambled to rely on the same old tactics and strategies that have worked seamlessly for them for decades . . . to see them arrogantly and summarily dismiss complaints from pet owners - one after the other, after the other, after the other. Neither organisation nor the broader cast of characters involved in this sordid ordeal bargained on coming up against Harry's owner, however. None of them bargained on this owner's love and dedication to her beloved little Harry. None of them bargained on this pet owner's unwavering tenacity and investigative chops. And certainly none of them bargained on the entire series of articles this owner has now produced (and is yet to produce) - both across this public ation and in the newly-launched International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics. But most of all, none of them bargained for the international, and full-scale national, deep-dive readership I'm sure, by now, they've heard through their various channels, they're receiving. Daily. Increasingly. Obsessively. Those readers - the ones that aren't monitoring institutions, regulators and veterinary sector participants, but rather are my fellow pet parents - care deeply about what happened to Harry (because they've expressed it in submissions through this website), and they most certainly care about their own pets and educating themselves to ensure against any fate even approaching Harry's, from befalling them. It's for me, for them, and for Harry, that I hereby publish my response to the belated, buried, and begrudging Veterinary Council of New Zealand's (VCNZ) offer to source the names of those involved in the matter, from the recalcitrant Massey University. If this matter were continued under cover of darkness, as both the VCNZ, and the " leadership " and staff of its veterinary teaching facility (the facility they have the gall to misname "Companion Animal Hospital") would vehemently prefer it was, it would get no further than the 1.5% ( not a typo, that's one point five percent) of complaints that ever make it through the VCNZ "process" to any form of resolution (which probably isn't much, anyway). So in the interests of shining light into dark and seedy corners of New Zealand's veterinary sector, here's my March 29 letter to Liam Shields, the VCNZ's Deputy Registrar, in response to his March 19 cover letter that accompanied the Privacy Act information disclosure he and his CEO, Iain McLachlan, gave up only through legal obligation . . . and that, as you will read is, even so, both redacted and incomplete. March 29, 2026 To: VCNZ Deputy Registrar, Liam Shields Dear Mr Shields Thank you for your letter of March 19, 2026 and the accompanying Privacy Act disclosure. On your offer to assist with the provision of names and position titles: In response to your offer to source the names and position titles of all involved parties, I accept – with the requirement that this be a complete and unredacted list, not a partial or selective one . Specifically, and as a matter of primary urgency, I require the unredacted names and professional roles of every individual at Massey University who had any involvement whatsoever with Harry Kelly – including but not limited to: Every clinician, intern, student, and support staff member involved in his "care", “treatment”, handling and any and all associated decision-making processes, during the period of November 30 and December 1, 2025. The above category of requirement must include the licensed veterinarians that (a) the rotating intern, "Dr" Stephanie Rigg ( who misrepresented herself to me as a seasoned, senior veterinarian ), should have been supervised by, and (b) the licensed practitioner that was or should have been responsible for the intaking staff member (who I am advised by another aggrieved client of the facility - but whom is too frightened to speak out themselves because of Dean Jon Huxley's legal threat to me for doing so ) also bears the name of "Stephanie". It should be noted that I was almost certain at the time that she (the very young "Stephanie" i.e. her name was not known to me at the time) was lying when she assured me she was a graduated and fully qualified veterinarian in her own right. Given what I know now about the lack of experience and ethics with which the Companion Animal "Hospital" is staffed, I am even closer to being fully convinced that she was not a qualified vet, but rather, still a student. As I had commented in my published article , 'Massey Vet Teaching Hospital: Where Empathy Goes to Die' , this staff member looked barely old enough to have been out of high school, was clearly out of her depth, and not only had no authority over the two ICU attendants (who were engaged in social conversation and refusing any attention to Harry as he stood up in his cage screaming in terror with his legs dangerously, especially for a blind dog, outstretched through the grid of the cage door ), and despite my pleas, refused to exercise any authority over these ICU staff. In retrospect, it would seem now that this very young woman was not in a position of qualified authority to do so. Clearly, Practice Manager Pauline Nijman has at least conjoint responsibility for staffing rosters, but there must also be - in a veterinary teaching establishment - present, direct reporting chains in place at all times. If this was not the case during Harry's admission and time in the "ICU" facility, then the two licensed practitioners bearing ultimate responsibility for this failure (including its obvious systemic nature) would be Jon Huxley, the Dean of the Veterinary School , and Jenny Weston, the Dean of Massey's Veterinary Teaching Program . I place particular emphasis on this point purely because - given the Veterinary Council's already-demonstrated protectionism towards, and degree of collusion with, Massey University, its leadership and its staff - I firmly believe that you will take the opportunity to disingenuously optimise every possible technicality to avoid accountability for as many staff as you can. Every individual involved in the selection or administration of any drug or substance to Harry Kelly during that period, whether authorised, and whether documented / recorded, or otherwise . The "undocumented" and "unrecorded" element of this requirement is especially important, given Massey's continued refusal to release the Controlled Drugs Register and, in fact, its outright breach of the complete Official Information Act request of which this was a key part. To be noted, and as I made clear to Massey, I have asked for this critical document due to the demonstrable difference in Harry's condition showing between the multiple covert student videos taken of him on cell phones that morning (in outright contempt for my firm verbal and written instructions to Practice Manager, Pauline Nijman, and on forms, that Harry should NEVER be used as a training tool ) and when he was presented to me some six hours later with the ( what I now know to be just an intern's ) demand that he be "euthanased" (and the fact that the "Clinical Summary" records his last (unnecessary contraindicated sedative over)dose as having been at 9am (i.e. 1.5 hours prior to the student activity for which he was obviously further catastrophically sedated and permanently disconnected from his critical IV fluids). Every individual involved in, present during, or who authorised or participated in any filming or recording of Harry Kelly during his time in the Massey facility. Every individual involved in making, documenting, or communicating the bogus “neurological” diagnosis (that has been clearly demonstrated to have been bogus ) used to coerce his “euthanasia ”. (So as to avoid my inadvertently creating a opportunisable loophole either for you or for Massey, you should include the alternative term that will have been used in the official narrative no doubt framed for your benefit and for his, by the compromised Veterinary School Dean Jon Huxley i.e. "recommended" "euthanasia".) Every individual involved in the decision to push for the “euthanasia” of Harry Kelly, and in the carrying out of that “euthanasia”. Every individual involved in the handling of Harry Kelly's body following his death ( achieved by way of abuse, scheme and deception ) on December 1, 2025. Every individual involved in the creation of, adding to, alteration of, falsification or scrubbing of Harry Kelly's clinical and financial records , specifically including but not limited to: · The Clinical Summary ( the broader contents and claims of which, it should be noted, are inconsistent with (a) the facts, (b) prior records, and (c) logic (including between one part thereof and another, and have clearly been altered and added to posthumously) – in which a false neurological diagnosis narrative was constructed to justify the coerced "euthanasia" . (To be noted, this is not the only false inclusion in this "Summary" document .) · The Patient Change Log (Field-Level Audit) – in which the recorded time of death (false in its own right) was subsequently manually overwritten with 0:00, in a deliberate act of forensic scrubbing to eliminate the timestamp from any future audit or investigation. · The Euthanasia Authorisation form – pre-typed before my arrival at the facility and prior to any decision I was prepared to make , bearing timestamps inconsistent with the Patient Change Log. · Billing Record 636969 – in which a billable quantity was manually inflated from 1.6 to 4.0 units at 16:56 on December 1, 2025 – two minutes after the falsified time of death – and further manipulated through to approximately 19:20 on the same date. · The simultaneous triggering of both "Deceased" and "Discharge" status entries in the clinical records management system – mutually exclusive administrative statuses whose concurrent activation constitutes a documented administrative collision revealing the fraudulent closure of a live patient's file i.e. in a frenzied rush to avoid the new incoming night shift staff from questioning or investigating the day's events. · The manual "data scrub" of December 3, 2025 – performed two days after Harry Kelly's death by an individual with high-level system access, deliberately overwriting forensic evidence to obstruct any future audit, investigation or legal proceedings. All of the above conduct is the subject of Police Report OR-2484821N and engages Sections 258 (altering a document with intent to deceive), 260 (falsifying registers) and 219 (theft by conversion) of the Crimes Act 1961 (updated as part of the Crimes Amendment Act 2003). I note that Privacy Act 2020 Principle 11(e) permits this disclosure in order to uphold a statutory regulatory process, and that Massey's blanket redaction of all clinician identities is being utilised to subvert my right to file a VCNZ complaint . I further note that a Senior Standards and Advice Officer and Solicitor at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (UK) - an accrediting organisation of Massey - has confirmed in writing that veterinarians are expected to provide their names to clients so as not to prevent them from raising a conduct concern. This is an obligation that applies regardless of whether the individual is employed by a university or a private practice. On the Apparent Glitch In Your Correspondence I note that the Privacy Act disclosure includes email correspondence between Massey University and the VCNZ — specifically, a private email from Massey's Dean of Veterinary Science, Jon Huxley, to VCNZ leadership, characterising my complaint as "wholly unfounded" before any investigation has been conducted, and ending with a friendly invitation for you to contact him for his, i.e. the apparently official, version. Your letter makes no reference whatsoever to the VCNZ's response to receiving that email, either at the time of receipt or in the period since. Quite frankly, it would be a naive individual who would believe that you and/or your CEO, Iain McLachlan, and/or your point of direct connectivity between the two organisations, Seton Butler, didn't respond to - and, far more likely, enter into communication with - Dean Jon Huxley as a result of receiving that email ( signed " Jon " ) from him. I require a full account of the actions the VCNZ took upon receiving Dean Huxley's private communication, who else received it, and all subsequent communications and related discussions and decisions - which, I suspect, included the two anonymous parties with whom you and your VCNZ colleague, Jamie Shanks, discussed me and the matter, but refuse to disclose any details thereof. On the Redacted Microsoft Teams Message I challenge your refusal to disclose the content of, and the parties to or discussed during, the Microsoft Teams message/s between yourself and Jamie Shanks. You have redacted the names of two individuals on the basis of section 53(b)(i). However, given that at the time of that communication you had not assisted me with the provision of names (and still have not) nor in any other way helped me with submitting a complaint (and still have not) - and therefore had no complaint formally before you (and still have not) - I require to know: who were you discussing me with, in what capacity, for what purpose, and on whose instruction? I would appreciate the full name, role, purpose and nature of the communications involving those undisclosed individuals and the undisclosed content of the associated discussions. I am considering a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding your refusal to disclose what is likely a communication or communications central to the likely compromised and collusive nature in which you intend to avoid, refuse, frame, conduct or dismiss my forthcoming complaints. On the Internal Contradiction In Your Letter Regarding Conflicts of Interest Your letter contains a direct contradiction. In your paragraph 11 you state that Professor Jenny Weston "has no involvement with CAC (Complaints Assessment Committee) investigations and decision-making." Yet, in your paragraph 12 you state that "the Council are legally required to review all CAC decisions". Professor Weston sits on the Council. Therefore Professor Weston is involved in reviewing CAC decisions - including any decision relating to my complaint about Massey University i.e. the institution whose veterinary academic program she directs. Just saying, Mr Shields. On Your Suggestion That I Contact Massey University for Assistance Am I to interpret this as outright contempt, or gaslighting, or both, Mr Shields? I do not believe that, at this stage, you are ignorant of Massey’s refusal to provide the names of the parties required for me to lay complaints with the Veterinary Council. I do not believe that, since you have been copied in on two months of repeated, multi-angled, fervent requests to Massey , which - as you know, and as you know I know - is obligated legally, morally, and by international “best practice” standards to provide these (and not to have blacked them all out, in the first instance, from the subset of records I have managed to extract), as well as in accordance with New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and the Official Information Act 1982 . . . the instruments of our country's law through which I have so far unsuccessfully sought their release. I also do not believe you are ignorant of all the associated coverage on this website that details every minute aspect of this situation and its current status, Mr Shields. And if you are, it is to your shame, Mr Shields, given the gravity of the matter, including each and every individual, reported aspect thereof. Further, I do not believe I need to explain to the Deputy Registrar of the VCNZ why directing a complainant back to the demonstrably obstructive source entity of their complaint for assistance is entirely inconsistent with VCNZ's stated mandate of "having timely and transparent processes" and "upholding veterinary standards to protect people and animals". On Massey University's Ongoing OIA Non-Compliance Additionally, Mr Shields - since you are now, belatedly, offering - yes, there is something else you could absolutely assist me with. As you know and further to the above, the Official Information Act 1982 is the cornerstone legislation governing the mandated release of information held by publicly-funded institutions in New Zealand. It is an errant institution, contemptuous indeed of New Zealand law, that thumbs its nose at its OIA obligations . . . which, as you know, and as stressed above, is exactly what Massey University has done. I am still waiting for any communication regarding my OIA request that was due on March 13, 2026. Given your close relationship with Massey, and your no doubt desire to assist me proceed in a timely manner with the laying of multiple complaints - in keeping with the VCNZ's own stated objectives of "upholding veterinary standards to protect people and animals", "having timely and transparent processes", and its vision for "Aotearoa to have the world's most trusted veterinary profession" - I would expect you to be most amenable to urging Massey to act in a manner conducive to those objectives. As a reminder of the information I await from Massey - all directly relevant to the content of the complaints that need to be formulated for your organisation - the outstanding OIA items include but are certainly not limited to ( the below is excerpted from the OIA request also published here , as you’re of course, already aware): 1. Identity of Clinicians: The unredacted names and professional roles of all staff involved in the "care", treatment, and handling in any way of Harry Kelly during the November 30 and December 1, 2025 period, and also in the period following his death on December 1, 2025, including all staff involved in the handling of his body. 2. Conflict of Interest Disclosures (Seton Butler) : All internal records, disclosures, and management plans regarding Seton Butler's dual role as a Massey University Adjunct Lecturer and his professional advisory role at the VCNZ - and all communications of any type relating to Jordan Kelly or Harry Kelly. (**I DO BELIEVE THESE SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN YOUR OWN PRIVACY ACT DISCLOSURE PACKAGE TO ME, BUT WERE NOT.**) 3. Instructional Content Authorisation : All internal documentation, ethics committee approvals, or funding agreements related to the production of "instructional content" or clinical studies in the ICU or any other part of Massey University and/or its Companion Animal Hospital during the period of Harry Kelly's admission, and including while his body was in Massey's possession. 4. Pet Farewells Communications: All communications with Pet Farewells regarding Harry Kelly and Jordan Kelly. Specifically, not a general commentary. 5. Post-Mortem Activity : Disclosure of whether or not an unauthorised post-mortem was performed on Harry Kelly. 6. Controlled Drugs Register: All entries in the Controlled Drugs Register pursuant to the Medicines Act 1981 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, as they relate to the dispensing, administration, or recording of any controlled or prescription substance administered to Harry Kelly during November 30 and December 1, 2025, or to his remains. 7. Patient Record Access Log and Audit Trail : The unredacted Field-Level Audit Log and all associated system access logs identifying every staff member who accessed, viewed, created, amended, "updated" or deleted any entry in Harry Kelly's electronic patient record from November 30, 2025, to the date of Massey's response. 8. Conflict of Interest Disclosures (Jenny Weston) : All internal records, disclosures, and management plans regarding Dr Jenny Weston's dual role as Massey University Academic Program Director and her ex officio VCNZ membership - and all communications of any type relating to Jordan Kelly or Harry Kelly. 9. ICU Video Footage of Harry Kelly: The release in full of all video footage taken of Harry Kelly during his ICU admission on November 30 and December 1, 2025, and any taken after his death. Massey's previous refusal to release the footage in full is not considered adequate compliance and is not accepted. In Conclusion, Mr Shields I remain deeply concerned about the VCNZ's refusal to perform its mandated role, and about the appalling complaint uphold rate documented in the VCNZ's own published research - co-authored previously by Professor Weston herself - which recorded that, over a 24-year period, 67.2% of complaints were either not investigated at all or were dismissed outright, with a mere 1.5% upheld, and only then, on technical competency grounds . Combined with the unashamed reticence you have shown with regard to facilitating this egregious complaint (and regarding which your March 19 email directs me to your website to fill out a form regarding), I intend to hold the Veterinary Council of New Zealand publicly accountable for a transparent process in this particular case. When a veterinary "hospital" and its staff overdose , abuse, torture, conduct twisted student activities upon while in a state of the pharmacological collapse they have induced him into, intentionally engineer his most unnecessary death , and coerce me under false diagnosis to not only consenting to my dog's traumatic killing but having to equally traumatically participate in it , I tend to take the matter rather personally . As quite a large proportion of pet owners, in fact, would. Between The Customer & The Constituent NZ and the International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics , this case is being read by a New Zealand audience spanning from Invercargill to Northland, and internationally across the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the United States, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Africa. Regulatory bodies in several of those jurisdictions have been formally notified and are actively monitoring developments. This will be your opportunity to demonstrate that the Veterinary Council of New Zealand is capable of executing its regulatory duties in an ethical, honest and responsible manner. Or not. I look forward to receiving the complete list of names and position titles so that I can proceed with formal complaints against each relevant individual. One Last Point of Note, Regarding VCNZ's Chief Executive Officer In closing, I note that your Chief Executive Officer, Mr Iain McLachlan, has had so little concern - other than what appears very much to be to protect Massey University, its veterinary facility and its personnel from accountability - that he has ignored the multiple communications on which he has been cc'd for months regarding this matter, and the many provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians in New Zealand ("administered" by your own organisation) that Massey's veterinary "teaching hospital" is in clear and in arguable breach of ( per my January 17 article on The Customer & The Constituent and the Open Letter to him that I published alongside it ). He initially endeavoured to avoid having to respond to my request for the (albeit incomplete and redacted) information you have now provided when I initially asked for it under the Official Information Act and chose to decline that request, apparently hoping I wouldn't know I had a right to it under the Privacy Act. Now, in a statement of open contempt, he has flicked off to you the responsibility for "dealing" with me, which you are hoping to conclude by way of directing me to fill out a form on your website. And so, I would ask, if a matter of such gravity as is represented by the Harry Kelly case, is not worthy of your Chief Executive's attention, just how bad does a set of circumstances have to be, and how obviously systemic does it have to appear within an organisation (New Zealand's only veterinary "teaching" facility, no less) before it is considered one of serious concern to the Veterinary Council of New Zealand? Or is the answer to that reflected by the fact that only an inconceivable 1.5% of all complaints (notwithstanding those that are never made) to your Council are upheld . . . and only then, on grounds of "technical competency" . . . with no concern for any complaints where a compromise in ethics has played an obvious part? If none of this is of any concern to Mr Iain McLachlan, as the head of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand, it begs the question, what does Mr McLachlan do all day? Perhaps he spends his time drafting the Standards, aims and goals that your very actions and decisions are actively designed to ensure are never actually achieved. Yours sincerely Jordan Kelly Editor-in-Chief, The Customer & The Constituent NZ Executive Director, International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics (IIIVE)
by Jordan Kelly 22 March 2026
Actually, Huxley, Notwithstanding That Their Loyalty to You and to Massey Prevents It, It's the VCNZ's JOB to 'Be Drawn Into It'. That's How They Get to See That It's Anything BUT A 'Wholly Unfounded Complaint'. It's Also More than Just A 'Complaint'. As You Have Long Since Known.
by Jordan Kelly 15 March 2026
Editor’s Conclusion : Unsupervised. Unaccountable. Uninvestigated. And Still Accredited.
by Jordan Kelly 10 March 2026
UPDATED: 16.3.26 Will This Badly Behaving Institution Finally Allow the Full Truth to Be Revealed? (16.3.26: MASSEY BREACHED ALL ITEMS ON THE BELOW OIA; TOTALLY IGNORED THEIR LEGAL OBLIGATIONS. NO COMMUNICATION. A HUGE NO-NO IN THE NZ CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK.)
by Jordan Kelly 8 March 2026
Hidden in Plain Sight: Unashamed Conflicts of Interest to Make Your Head Spin
by Jordan Kelly 4 March 2026
Time for Change : New Zealand's Pet Parents Say NO MORE to the Poor Standards, Compromised Care & Outright Contempt We Put Up With from the 'Products' of the Massey Veterinary Degree Factory
by Jordan Kelly 27 February 2026
Readers following the coverage of my attempts to get to the bottom of what happened to my beloved little papillon, Harry, with whom I was extraordinarily closely bonded, will know that: (A) The rot in Massey University’s Companion Animal “Hospital” (CAH) runs deep. (B) Honesty and transparency is not their policy. Denial, dismissal, stonewalling, legal threats and intimidation are. (C) Animals aren’t safe there, with cruelty embedded in “care”, and your property (as your pet legally is) not considered your property at all, as far as Massey, its CAH staff and management are concerned. Your pet is theirs ; to do with as they please, according to their mindset and their modus operandi. And if that involves catastrophic levels of unauthorised, contraindicated, convenience sedation to facilitate their use of your pet in monetised student video collections (including on private cell phones, and to which you will be given no access), this too, according to Massey, is its own God-given right and “best practice” Standard Operating Procedure. (D) “Informed Consent” has a very different meaning in the Massey playbook to that which is generally deemed its accepted definition. (E) “Accountability” is a foreign concept and not one with which they have any intention of becoming acquainted. (F) Laws – including those governing animal welfare, property conversion and more – are not only optional, in Massey’s case, they simply don’t apply. In fact, they appear blissfully ignorant of them according to my (and Harry's) experience. You know all that. You’ve read about it here , here , here , here , here , here , here , here and in most of my other now 30+ articles covering the numerous different sub-atrocities within the overall atrocity that was the demise and disposal of my precious little Harry. Actually, "atrocious" doesn't come anywhere near to being an adequate adjective. Despite having been a professional writer since I was 16 and having upwards of 25 published books under my belt, I don't actually have an adjective that's adequate for the pure evil that was perpetrated upon Harry . . . and, by extension, me . There is not one word or one phrase that can sufficiently convey the depth and breadth of the sheer, unadulterated wickedness that festers without restraint within the walls of Massey University's Companion Animal "Hospital". What you, my readers (or those of you not on Massey's massive legal team payroll) didn’t yet know – because I didn’t yet know – is that record and evidence tampering (which, for any other New Zealand citizen would attract jail time of up to 10 years under the Crimes Act 1961 Section 258 (Altering document with intent to deceive) or Section 260 (Falsifying registers) , and/or a $10,000 fine under the Privacy Act Section 212(2)(b) - appears also to be included in the “we’re exempt” culture of Massey and its veterinary “hospital” staff. Note to Readers: The above laws aren't some hypothetical, bottom-drawer, dusty old legal tracts in archaic library textbooks. They're real, "living" laws that apply to every individual in our country. And today, they are being made to apply to Dr Stephanie Rigg and her "colleagues" who falsified Harry's records to create a cover-up of what they did to him . . . and to me. I will, duly, see Dr Rigg and her associates in Court. Dissecting the Cover-Up: Massey’s Metadata of Deception But back to what readers do know for a moment: You’ll know that I’ve been in the battle of battles for the past two months to extract Harry’s full records (or anything approaching them) from Massey’s Legal and Governance department. HOWEVER . . . there was one thing I hadn’t known how to decipher that they actually had finally drip-fed to me. It was File Name: Patient Change Log (Field-Level Audit) . I’ve been learning a lot about veterinary science, record-keeping, and law in general lately. Not because I wanted to. But because if you want to figure out how deep the rot really runs at Massey, you kind of have to. So I’ve learned a bit about how to decipher clinical metadata. Just e nough to realise that this Patient Change Log (Field-Level Audit) is exactly where the digital fingerprints of a cover-up are hiding. Despite the fact that this document has as much redacted as it shows (probably more), with ALL staff names and positions blacked out, for example -I still found four distinct “smoking gun” entries in these otherwise heavily-redacted metadata logs. BIG. FAT. SMOKING. GUNS. that amounted to one undeniable overall conclusion: This document isn’t a clinical record so much as it’s a literal crime scene . There were already so many dodgy inconsistencies in the few items I'd managed to pull out of Massey to that point (as I've documented in various of my preceding articles). But this document is where, undeniably, the bodies are buried. You just need to know which clod of dirt to look under. Hidden in Plain Sight . . . In A Little Thing Called the Metadata (That the Average Pet Owner Wouldn't Even Know Existed ) There are four hidden but key findings demonstrating that the entire timeline of Harry’s “experience” in that hellhole were was orchestrated, and the sudden "neurological event/decline" exit strategy planned for him were a total fabrication. And that fabrication had a start time. (For this start time we will initially revert our focus back to Massey's previously-supplied "Clinical Summary" (in all its dodginess) . . . We will then lead from the immediately below into the afore-mentioned "Patient Change Log (Field-Level Audit)". Bear with me. I promise not to let this get boring). Well, one of two start times. Either: (1) The 8.38am disconnection of his (with, by-then, the TWO 750% overdoses of the renally contraindicated convenience sedative with which the "crying dog"-sensitive ICU staff had plied him overnight) now life-essential IV fluids (8.5 hours into the prescribed 24-hour protocol that they charged me for). And/or: (2) When the day shift ICU "vet" arrived at 9am and decided a THIRD 750% overdose would be a strategic way do deal with a clearly already massively overdosed little 3.8kg, 15-year-old, dehydrated dog. Now WHY would any vet take such a decision? Well, for legal purposes, of course (remembering that the Venerable Dean Jon Huxley and the obviously not- so-new-broom Vice-Chancellor Pierre Venter, have all the money in the public purse to pay their top-tier external legal counsel . . . and by gum, there are enough of the buggers, if this site's analytics are anything to be guided by), I will precede the following by stating that these are my conclusions, made on the basis of the collation and evaluation of the information before me. That said, what I know of my readers is this: You are no intellectual slouches. Feel free to let me know if you can come up with any other conclusion from the information (complete with now numerous "receipts") that I have thus far presented, most especially here and here , and most tellingly of all, in today's expose. R emember, though, I held the ultimate evidence in my arms at 6pm on December 1 . . . and, some 45 minutes later, I let them take it (safely, for them) away from me, just like Harry's (the literal body of evidence) life had just been taken from him. Little Numerals that Tell A BIG Story The plan for Harry's manufactured exit is not so much written into the records, as it is revealed by the tampering with the logs. They lay bare the lead vet’s apparent plan that his life would come to an abrupt end by the pre-scheduled time of (well, they couldn't quite get consistency in the logs regarding the exact minute, but by the absolute latest time of) 17:00 hours i.e. 5pm . . . assumedly, the end of the day shift on December 1. Just in time to mark him "Deceased" and seal off the records of this catastrophically overdosed patient, before the next shift came on, saw his records, and someone started asking the immediately necessary, and certainly appropriate, questions. And those questions would (0R SHOULD ) have included , but would certainly not have been limited to: How long has this dog been in this state? Why hasn't any rescue and remediation protocol been undertaken? Why was he given yet ANOTHER administration of 50mg of Gabapentin at 09:00 hours after the preceding two during night shift? Why is he disconnected from his IV fluids? Who approved that and why? (And if they knew he'd starred in a multi-video student film festival that morning): Was he taken out of his cage and handled in this state? When did he last drink? Was he given any food before he entered this near-comatose state? Does the owner know of the overdoses and the state he's in? Have you filled in an incident report? Have any emergency specialists been called in for advice? and, no doubt, many more questions. OR . . . maybe not. It depends if the rot in that ICU is fully immersive, or if it's concentrated on Dr Stephanie Rigg's day shift and the ICU shift staff of the preceding (November 30) night. But none of those questions could be asked and none of that could happen. The day shift - led by "Dr" Rigg ("Steffi") - wasn't about to let it happen. Thus, the pre-timestamped, just before end-of-shift, Time of Death entered into the "Euthanasia Authorisation" form that they had all queued up for me long before I ever arrived at that Godforsaken facility that fated December 1 afternoon.
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