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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…
HORIZON FARMS has made animal welfare declarations, one for stall-free in February, and then cage-free and better chicken in March. Horizon Farms, which has been procuring meat with commitment to animal welfare in rearing methods since its beginning, is a company that has always considered the inquiries of us animal protection groups seriously and thinks about what they can do for farm animals. The company, as noted on its website, only procures meat from farms that thoroughly take care of the reared animals. For this reason most is imported from overseas, but this time it will begin procuring cage-free eggs from a carefully selected domestic poultry farm; the triple declarations…
The comments by our government were the worst The comments by our government were the worst The OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) submitted the third draft for animal welfare codes for egg laying hens. It will be adopted in May 2020 after concerned countries review it and give feedback about this draft. Japan also reviewed and submitted its comments to the OIE after holding committees called “OIE liaison committee” from the end of December 2019 through January 2020. You can view each member’s comment here. The government’s feedback was as though it would overwrite these members’ opinions.* Here is the summary of the comments by our government: They commented…
On 2020/2/19, the Parliamentary League for Animal Welfare was established as suprapartisan (including ruling, opposition, and independent parties) led by Constitutional Democratic Party members. The introduction said that the establishment was based on a strong desire to work on animal welfare, livestock animals, and laboratory animals that are left behind in the Animal Protection Law. Thank you to all the interested members of the Parliament. We strongly hope that we will be able to achieve world-standard animal welfare while involving the industry. One week prior, on February 12, a study session was held for an introduction to animal welfare with the invitation of Tohoku University Emeritus Professor Sosuke Sato. Introduced…
After considering animal welfare alone, HORIZON FARMS, which is committed to free-range grazing, has made a stall-free declaration, promising to never lock mother pigs into gestation stalls, now and in the future. According to HORIZON FARMS staff, they make procurements while constantly checking with rigorous eyes whether especially the pregnant pigs are spending time relaxed, whether they have good care during child bearing, and whether the interactions between piglets and mother pigs are realized. At HORIZON FARM, which asserts that “In low-cost, high-volume animal agriculture, animal welfare is ignored. We never compromise the health of the animals and the consumers for the sake of increasing productivity”, they offer meat from…
2019 was a year with many natural disasters due to violent typhoons. Animal Rights Center Japan has investigated livestock animals in the affected areas and saved records of them. A 3-minute film “Don’t leave me” edited based on footage taken at those times received the Murakami Hiroyasu award (director of films such as “Tokyo Higata”) inithe 3-minute video corner at the Labor Festa (an event about documentary films, etc) held in Tokyo Tamachi Transport Hall on December 21. (★ There are some scenes that are difficult to watch in the footage.) It’s a small piece, but that the livestock animals in the affected areas are…
OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) in September 2019 prepared and presented the 3rd draft of the “Animal Welfare and Laying Hen Production Systems”. The development of the “Animal Welfare and Laying Hen Production Systems” has been under discussion since 2017, and especially for the second draft last year, there were embarrassing opinions from Japan that the animal welfare standard should be significantly lowered. Similar opinions were expressed not only by Japan but also by the United States, but Japan’s strong and backward attitude seems to have left a strong impression in the world. In response, 3rd draft was created, but the content was reduced to a level that would…
On December 3rd 2019, a member from the House of Representatives in Gunma prefecture, Keinin Horikoshi, asked Minister Shinjiro Koizumi of the Ministry of Environment questions about the needs of animal welfare for livestock animals. The OIE Standards, which the Ministry of Environment at the Committee on Environment in May 2019 promised to follow, were supposed to be known to the local officials through their study group sessions. How does Minister Koizumi understand animal welfare issues on livestock animals? Mr. Horikoshi emphasized the importance of leadership by the Ministry of Environment on this issue: There was some progress in this issue in certain aspects. I believe the leadership by the…
On 2019/11/12 at the House of Representatives Consumer Committee, Representative Keinin Horikoshi (Constitutional Democratic Party, Gunma) raised a question about promotion of animal welfare and ethical consumption. Mr. Horikoshi explained animal welfare as part of ethical consumption, its economic impact, investment impact, and the risk of intensive livestock farming, and appealed strongly about the need for help of the Consumer Affairs Agency, which bears the role of educating the consumers. In response, Shinichi Eto, Minister for Extraordinary Affairs of the Cabinet Office (consumers and food safety) stated as follows: After hearing from Representative, we were not always aware of this, so it was very helpful, or rather a very good…
The fraction of supermarkets carrying cage-free eggs increased to 51%. Animal welfare, spreading in Japan as well. Animal Rights Center Japan, with support from 77 volunteers in 24 prefectures nationwide from August 1 to September 31, 2019, surveyed 270 stores for animal welfare and plant-based protein availability. In the “Green Consumer Nationwide Store Survey 2015” sponsored by the nonprofit Citizens Environmental Foundation and participated by multiple organizations including the Animal Rights Center in 2015, 22% of the supermarkets sold eggs that were labeled cage-free or free-range, and 16% of supermarkets sold milk labeled “free range” or “grazing”. In 2019, the concept of animal welfare seems to have spread a lot,…
The livestock industry uses animals daily and works side-by-side with death. The trapped animals mean death if humans stop feeding them. Inappropriate treatment is abuse, and animals are suffering from mistreatment. The situation is determined by the livestock farmer’s one arrangement, one consideration, one lazy heart, one action without courage, and the animals are all under the dominion. Japan is a disaster powerhouse. Earthquakes, water disasters, and typhoons often come and leave great scars every year. In recent years, “stricken areas” keep increasing dramatically. When these two things are considered together, livestock farmers must prepare for disasters much more than usual, and in the event of a disaster, they should…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Nanakusano sato is a company that produces natural mayonnaise called “Matsuyda no Mayonnaise.” We found out the eggs this company uses are all cage-free. The company intends to keep this policy in the future. We confirmed this is the first Japanese company with such a policy. They said the reason they only use cage-free eggs is “it’s just simply natural.” This is from their website: What is natural? Don’t touch much. Don’t add much. Keep the conventional way. It takes effort, but it is natural to take time. Don’t overdo. Let nature take care of things. Nature will take care of crops, birds, and fermentation. While there are companies who…
The multi-partisan parliamentary group aiming for zero killing of dogs and cats has established a project team for amending the Animal Welfare Act. Since its launch on August 25, 2023, the PT has held 21 meetings to hear from stakeholders and deliberate on the direction of amendments. Out of these 21 sessions, however, only one touched on livestock animals, and just one on laboratory animals. Despite 1 billion livestock animals being killed annually, the issue remains far from the priorities of lawmakers. In the sole PT meeting addressing livestock, the discussions showed promise, but it is unlikely to expect significant amendments by 2025 at this rate. 17th PT: Hearings on…
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