2020 Awareness survey regarding livestock animals - The awareness remains low

Since 2016, Animal Rights Center Japan has been conducting a survey once a year using a private company to find out how much awareness there is about the actual rearing conditions of livestock animals.

We have now conducted a survey for 2020, so will report the results.

The questions are the following 10 items.

Do you know that many of the mother pigs are confined in gestation stalls, small enclosures in which they can’t turn around?
Do you know that many of the piglets are castrated and have their teeth and tails clipped without anesthesia?
Do you know that many of the chickens for eggs are kept in metal wire cages called battery cages measuring 22 cm x 22 cm per bird?
Do you know that many of the chickens for eggs have their beaks cut without anesthesia?
Do you know that chickens for meat (broilers) have been bred for faster growth and, as a result, are more susceptible to diseases?
Do you know that many of the dairy cows spend most of their times tied?
Do you know that many of the cows are castrated and their horns cut without anesthesia?
Do you know the term “animal welfare”?
Do you know that cage-free eggs or free-range eggs are sold at supermarkets?
Do you know that rearing methods banned in Europe are used in Japan?

From 2016 to 2018, the awareness level improved even if only gradually. However after 2019, the awareness level is declining a little, although it may not be significant.

The average awareness levels for all questions (“I know” and “I have heard” are calculated as “aware”) have transitioned:

2016 awareness overall 15.2％
2017 awareness overall 17.0％
2018 awareness overall 20.2％
2019 awareness overall 19.2％
2020 awareness overall 18.0％

Survey results

[Survey name] Survey regarding livestock animals (meat / eggs / dairy)
[Surveying body] Certified nonprofit organization Animal Rights Center Japan
[Survey period] 2020/3/16 – 2020/3/19
[Valid responses] 1,205
[Survey design] Via: internet survey (Net Monitor)
[Survey area] All of Japan
[Target condition] From Net Monitor, men & women age 15+ were targeted
* Question #5 was not used in 2016.

The survey data can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
Please feel free to use, citing Animal Rights Center Japan.

■ I don’t know
■ I have heard
■ I know

1. Gestation stalls 2. Piglet castration 3. Battery cages

4. Beak cutting 5. Broiler selective breeding prone to diseases 6. Dairy cow tethering

7. Cow castration / dehorning 8. “Animal welfare” 9. Cage-free egg availability

Looking at the results, about 80% of the people remains “unaware” of the actual conditions of livestock animals. They don’t know about sow stalls or amputations of body parts. Most people don’t even recognize the word animal welfare. It was after the war that factory-style animal farming spread in Japan, and perhaps in the minds of people remain idyllic images of animals living in open meadows, grazing freely, poking the ground, and digging holes. But the reality is not so.

In modern factory-style livestock farming, many animals suffer from being unable to act normally. It is difficult to be interested in the rights and welfare of animals used for livestock without knowing the actual situations. We must convey the current situation more accurately and raise the issues.