寄付Donate
No land animals are used as much as broiler chickens for meat. In Japan, 700 million chickens are raised per year. For this reason, improving situations for these animals would make a huge impact in terms of animal welfare. It is also important to take this issue seriously for our sustainable society since it is deeply connected to the issue of drug resistance. Many European companies signed up for the European Chicken Commitment. It was initiated by an animal welfare organization that set better standards for raising chickens. In the Commitment, various proposals are suggested to solve issues for chicken in light of animal welfare. Issue 1: TOO BIG. TOO…
Animal Rights Center since its founding 31 years ago had set spreading of vegetarianism as one of its main objectives, and now we are working on eggs and dairy products, so the objective has changed to spreading of veganism. The contents of the Articles of Incorporation created in 1999 include “promotion and proposal work related to development and sales system creation for products that the consumers can choose and purchase, and vegan foods that consider the preservation of animals and the ecosystem”. 31 years since then, the early days of veganism are over, and it’s clear that the time has passed when activists with complete disregard to profits must play the active role. The…
Japan is still in a situation where 99% of eggs are produced from battery cages, and the industry is clinging to this old rearing method. However, there will be no future there. In USA, sale of caged eggs have been banned starting in Massachusetts, then in California, Washington, and Oregon. Furthermore, Other states tried to ask the Supreme Court to repeal the law in Massachusetts but the Supreme Court did not accept the lawsuit. Eggs in the US are inexpensive. Unlike in Japan, it must be advantageous to be able to produce feed within the country, and to have large production volumes with large facilities. It seems that Japan wants…
Regarding the animal welfare regulations on rearing method that the International Animal Health Organization OIE is trying to formulate, Japan continues to give negative opinions saying “reasonable flexibility should be ensured considering various production modes”. In response to industry and national attitudes, we, the Animal Rights Center Japan, have requested that animal welfare be enhanced in collaboration with other animal rights groups. Consumer groups have also joined the national committee and are speaking out for animal welfare. However, the opinions of NGOs are not reflected at all. The chicken farm shown in this video is from Japan. This is the result of ensuring reasonable flexibility. There is no law at…
RICCO gelato Co., Ltd., which operates stores on Okinawa Miyakojima and in Tokyo, is popular with a variety of flavors that ice cream lovers won’t get bored with. Precise allergen labeling is also one of the attractions, and there are many types of ice cream that does not use milk or eggs. There are also sales via an online store, so many people are probably using it; when inquired, we confirmed that cage-free eggs are used in all products in addition to ice cream. RICCO gelato Co. Chief Director Yutaka Maeno said: Even if it takes extra effort, we’d like consumers to eat safe and delicious food. Rearing chickens cage-free…
What is Cattle’s Individual Identification Number? You may have seen “Cattle’s Individual Identification numbers” on packages when you buy Japanese beef at a supermarket. These Cattle’s Individual Identification numbers are attached to cow’s ears as well as displayed on the meat package at supermarkets. Since Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was first observed in 2001 in Japan, there has been a huge demand of traceability about where the cattle were born and transported. Thus, the Law for Special Measures Concerning the Management and Relay of Information for Individual Identification of Cattle came into effect in 2003. Consumers can obtain information of the trace by looking up the individual identification numbers displayed…
There are various support systems for the livestock industry implemented by the country, but one of them is Comprehensive Subsidies for Developing Strong Agriculture & Leaders. As previously reported in another article, from 2018, when using this grant to establish a local meat production center (slaughterhouse), consideration for animal welfare has become required. In the case of implementing the maintenance of local meat centers among livestock product processing facilities, efforts shall be made to effectively utilize the recycling of slaughter residue, etc., and handle livestock in consideration of animal welfare. Although it is not specific, it was a step forward in animal welfare that such a sentence was added to…
IRELAND, 3 JULY 2019 – Ireland is set to become the 15th country in the European union to ban fur farming after the country’s cabinet approved to phase-out fur farming. The bill is expected to be introduced into the Dáil, the Irish parliament, in September. The Fur Free Alliance urges the Irish government to stay committed and join the majority of European countries in making an end to this barbaric industry. Commenting on the Government decision, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D. said: “There has been considerable international and societal debate about fur farming. While the Department has strengthened its controls over the sector in…
At “Inubosaki Marine Park” in Chiba prefecture Choshi city which closed due to deterioration and business collapse in January 2018, a bottlenose dolphin “Honey”, humboldt penguins, and fish were left behind, and voices of concerns over their future were incessant. Despite strong interest from overseas, the Marine Park has refused contacts with us or the media and has withheld information. Management resumes with a new owner!? Honey and the penguins may get sold to China!? According to an article on the 2019/7/5 issue of the weekly magazine “FRIDAY”, the chief director has been replaced by a Chinese woman; moreover, details were posted that are astonishing, or rather they matched our worst expectations.…
On June 27th, the meat processing companies Primaham and Starzen held annual shareholders assemblies in Tokyo, and this year we were in front of the venues to encourage shareholders to ask the companies questions about the confined pig breeding practice. A total of 12 people took part in the action toward abolishing pregnancy stalls, asking shareholders to comment on the use of pregnancy stalls at the meetings. We handed out over 150 copies of targeted flyers of Primaham and over 100 copies to Starzen, respectively. In the leaflets distributed, we encouraged the investors to ask their respective companies the following kinds of questions: Please tell us about your…
The 2 chickens, Ayumi and Nozomi, rescued from battery cages in 2018 and taken back by ARCJ. Because they were originally injured in the battery cage in the legs and the base of the feet, they were unable to walk. In particular, Nozomi had a broken bone in the base of her foot which was then reconnected crookedly, so her recovery was delayed. Seven months after coming to ARCJ, please take a look at their appearance. Ayumi Ayumu began running around immediately. At first, it seemed like she would topple over when she was about to walk, but her posture eventually improved, now looking like a chicken. Nozomi After spending…
The severity of harm to chickens from cockfighting taking place in Okinawa was reported previously, but this has not been resolved yet. Cockhouse that protects the chickens submits a petition to create a regulation in Okinawa Prefecture that bans cockfighting, and reexamination will take place in July. Even without examination, cockfighting is cruel, causes many illegal activities, and also causes uncertainty in confidence in Okinawa Prefectural police and Okinawa Prefectural government who can not control these crimes altogether. ARCJ has launched a signature campaign with Cockhouse. This will not be a formal petition because the signatures are on the Internet, but we believe that delivering voices from around the country…
The word “vegan” seems to appear more and more recently even in Japan, but what does “vegan” really mean? Many people seem to misunderstand, so it would be good to understand its real meaning as this word becomes more commonly used. Indeed, if you check on Google Trends, the search interests in both “ヴィーガン” and “ビーガン” seem to be increasing exponentially *1. The word “vegan” was originally invented in England. In Japanese, many people write “ビーガン”, but “ヴィーガン” is technically more correct, if you want to be exact. (In Google search, too, “ヴィーガン” has twice as many results as “ビーガン”, so it might be good to try for consistency.)…
Why “cultured meat” and “alternative meat” — animal sacrifice The graph below shows the estimated number of animals sacrificed around the world for meat, eggs, and dairy from 1961 to 2017. Source: FAOSTAT* Laying Eggs hen and Meat chicken use the left-most 1000Head axis, while Meat pig, Meat cattle, and Milk whole fresh cow use the inner axis. Here are the numbers of animals sacrificed in 2017. They amount to over 10 times the world population. Egg-laying hens 7.838 billion birds Broiler chickens 66.567 billion birds Pigs 1.486 billion heads Beef cattle 344.149 million heads Dairy cows …
Is your milk coming from healthy cows? When you imagine dairy cows, you might think of free-range cows. However 70% of farms in Japan keep their cows tied with a short rope called “tie stalls.” See the images below: The cows are tied with ropes in the pictures above. A tool called stanchions is used in the pictures below. Both farms are located in Japan. The majority of farmers use these methods while there are other methods called free-stalls or free-barns where cows can move around. In Japan, only 3% of farmers are estimated to allow cows to graze in a field as of 2012. The picture below shows the…
On June 13, 2019, the certified nonprofit organization Animal Rights Center Japan (Tokyo) launched the [Rethink-Milk.com] campaign, aiming to solve the issue of dairy cows getting their milk taken while being constricted by short chains or ropes for extended periods, unallowed to even walk. In this campaign, we will shed light to the existing situations of dairy cows in Japan, and the suffering and impacts on dairy cows brought about by tethering, and also raise public awareness by publishing questionnaire results from dairy manufacturers, and promote conversion to non-tethering rearing methods (free-range, free barn, free stall). Supermarkets are stocked with milk from animals suffering from tethering, and are not yet…
On June 12, 2019, the revised Animal Protection Law was established. ARCJ has partnered with JAVA and PEACE, and for over 2.5 years we’ve been working on a law to protect all animals. Based on the draft plan we created, discussions have continued. The effectiveness of the law, which was lacking in the animal welfare management law so far, and the deficiencies in its operation have greatly improved.The removal of the transitional measures of the 8-week-old regulation of dogs and cats that are being discussed by the public will not actually benefit the animals significantly. This had been treated as symbolic, but in fact the fine revisions that have been…
For all the animals, farmed and fished, who continue to be ignored in society. 251 people marched, for all the animals who are restrained from movement, in barren filthy cages, desperately breathing, desperately drinking, desparately eating, being forced to live, forcibly exploited, without any rewards for them, and then killed in horrific ways. June 1, 2019, Shibuya, Omotesando, Harajuku Thank you to our 251 comrades. We will never give up until there’s no more sacrifice of animals. From now on, let’s continue to raise our voices together for them. Please gain more information and utilize in your activism. https://arcj.org
寄付