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Globally, Japan’s livestock protection index is ranked at the lowest level. Japanese companies are rated at the lowest level in the BBFAW (Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare) for animal welfare, making investment in them high-risk. This lag is not just affecting livestock farmers but is also negatively impacting the Japanese food companies in the future. How can we catch up? Facing harsh realities In the summer of 2023, we investigated the proportion of laying hens raised in free-range systems. We discovered that only 1.11% (currently 1.12%) of them are free-range in Japan. At this rate, animals in Japan will continue to suffer for the next 10, 20, or 50…
It is a well-known fact that male chicks from egg-laying hens are killed on the day of birth, but few people know that chickens raised for meat are similarly sorted on their first day, and “substandard” chicks are being killed on a daily basis. Chicks that are weak, have congenital shape anomalies such as too many legs, are too small, inflamed or dirty are considered “substandard.” Since about two out of every 100 chicks are killed, it is estimated that about 14 million birds (8 to 16 million birds) are killed immediately after birth in Japan each year. The most common way to kill chicks in the country is to…
The statistical data for poultry processing in fiscal year 2022 has been released. Unfortunately, the figures show a shocking number of chickens that were not properly processed and instead boiled alive. This resulted in their skin turning red and the chickens being discarded. The total number of such incidents was a record high of 616,864 birds, making it the worst year in terms of casualties. The extremely cruel act of boiling birds alive involves hanging chickens and ducks upside down by shackling their legs while they are conscious and attempting to cut their throats while they struggle and flail. This often fails to properly sever their necks, leaving them to…
The avian flu is raging and companies are being forced to stop producing and selling egg products. This seems to be a major opportunity for food companies to learn about the risks of livestock production for the first time since the mad cow disease. The current avian influenza pandemic is one of the H5N1 subtype A influenza viruses, which mutated into a highly pathogenic strain in 2003 and is potent in several ways. Development of Avian Influenza Avian influenza is a type A flu that infects humans, pigs, and many other animals, all of which come from birds. Originally circulating in waterfowl as a natural host, the virus has infected…
558,181 chickens were boiled alive in 2021, revealed by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) data. The number had continuously increased and hit the worst in 2021, which indicates there had been no efforts to minimize such errors at the slaughterhouses. There are two types of facilities when we talk about slaughterhouses for chickens. One is to slaughter chickens for meat, and the other is to cull laying hens. In 2021, the number increased in the facility to kill chickens for meat while we saw slight improvements in the facility for hens. The impact is huge for the former facility since over 700 million birds are killed for…
On October 2, 2022, World Day for Farmed Animals, we partnered with the Animal Rights Center Iwate and Shiga to carry out simultaneous actions in three locations across the country. During the day, we held animal rights workshops in Shibuya, Shiga and online, followed by a demonstration in Shibuya, Shiga and Iwate at the same time. Approximately 50 animal rights activists from across Japan attended the workshop. After the lecture, participants asked many questions and their enthusiasm for their activities came through clearly.We’ realized, once again, that a lot of activists are doing their best to protect animals through trial and error. At the demonstration in Shibuya, we, with around…
Since 2016, Animal Rights Center Japan has been conducting a survey once a year using a private company to see how well the actual rearing of livestock animals is recognized by consumers. We report the results of the survey conducted in 2022 (the number of valid responses was 1,214). The questions are the following 10 items: Do you know that many of the sows are trapped in a gestation crate, a narrow enclosure 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…
On 2021/11/11, we are able to deliver great news for pigs. NH Foods Group made an announcement as follows. Promote initiatives that take animal welfare into consideration Elimination of gestation crates on all NH farms (pigs)To be eliminated from all domestic NH farms by the end of 2030* Installation of drinking water facilities in lairage pens at all NH meat processing plants (pigs and cattle)To be installed at all domestic bases by the end of 2023* Installation of cameras on all NH farms and meat processing plants to ensure environmental qualityTo be installed at all domestic bases by the end of 2023* * For companies in which the NH Foods…
The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are expected to begin in July 2021 after a one-year postponement. As the Tokyo Games will be held during the COVID-19 pandemic, all participants must take additional precautions to protect their health. This goes beyond just disinfecting; it is also important to raise immunity, avoid crowding, and stay away from related risks. Diet, specifically the ingredients in food, play a crucial role in raising immunity among the atheletes. The standards for procuring livestock products for the Tokyo Games were established in 2017. Animal welfare levels are minimal in comparison to world standards. For example, at the London Games, free-range eggs were the minimum standard. At…
What if it happened to you…? With their legs fixed, chickens are hung upside down before having their heads cut a little with a knife. While bleeding they are kept hanging for a few minutes, then they are put into boiling water headfirst. What if it happened to dogs? Cats? Or humans? Do you think the society that accepts such cruelty is healthy? However, people who stock, process, sell and eat chickens accept the cruelty.They go about their daily lives blocking out the cruelty on their doorstep as they believe it happens elsewhere. Since 2018, Animal Rights Center has been pointing out that chickens have their heads cut off while…
If anyone believes the world is becoming a better place, think again. In terms of animal welfare, it seems to be getting worse, as we just learned how our livestock industry and the government are treating animals. It’s clear animal cruelty and violence towards humans are two sides of the same coin. However, we haven’t realized these two are closely connected as treatment of animals continues to get worse. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is trying to pass a special provision to exempt livestock animal housing from the Building Standards Act, which sets standards for properties, structure, and facilities of buildings in order to promote public welfare…
[50 Days of a Broiler – The World Viewed by Mei], a short film produced by Animal Rights Center Japan, has won the TVF2021 Award at the Tokyo Video Festival. The news came as a complete surprise to us, and we are thrilled to share it with everyone who has been supporting our activities. This is a three-minute short film that has been re-edited based on the footage titled [50 Days of a Broiler – The World viewed by Mei], which was released on Animal Rights Center’s official website in August last year. Since last year, ARCJ has been working on re-editing its collection of animal-related footages and making them…
Since 2016, Animal Rights Center Japan has been conducting a survey once a year using a private company to see how well the actual rearing of livestock animals is recognized by consumers. We report the results of the survey conducted in 2021 (the number of valid replies was 1,207). The questions are the following 10 items: Do you know that many of the sows are trapped in a gestation crate, a narrow enclosure 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…
There was a sign like this at MaxValu supermarket: This probably makes many consumers feel like they should eat more chicken and eggs. However, when speaking of taking in protein efficiently, it would make more sense to compare the amount of protein per unit calorie, rather than “per 100g”. This is because while it doesn’t really matter how many grams of food we eat per day, how many calories we should take in per day is roughly determined. For example, how about per 200kcal. According to Japan food standard composition table 2015 (1) as referred to in the above sign, the composition (protein, fat, cholesterol) per 200kcal is: Per 200kcal…
When it comes to slaughter of chicks immediately after birth, many people think of the slaughter of male egg-layers. However, not only chickens for eggs but also chickens for meat (broilers) are slaughtered immediately after birth. Even at the hatchery of broiler chickens, immature chicks, chicks with egg yolk stuck on their bodies, chicks with dirty belly buttons, and chicks with bad or inflamed legs are killed that day. Chicks are born at hatcheries every day; the number of chicks killed in Japan per day is estimated to be about 260,000 for egg-layer chickens and about 21,000 for broiler chickens*. As methods of killing these chicks, it is widely practiced…
The year-end and new year holidays are the season for international film festivals. Based on the breeding record footage of broiler poultry farming [50 Days of a Broiler: The World Viewed by Mei] published for 50 days from August this year, Animal Rights Center Japan produced a short film of the same name in English for overseas audience, to be exhibited at several events. Unfortunately, however, in response to the spread of the coronavirus infection, the earliest film festival was postponed to be online, so we decided to release the film to the public in advance considering that the information would become out of date. The production involved volunteer supporters…
Animal cruelty, in treatment of any animals that humans deal with in society, is something that must not exist, either legally or morally, and it must be eliminated in industrial animals as well. Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of the Environment This was clarified by a question from a member of the House of Representatives, Keinin Horikoshi (Gunma), at the Environment Committee of the House of Representatives on November 17, 2020. For many, this must be taken for granted. However, in the livestock industry, animal cruelty has become commonplace, and mistaken procedures have become commonplace, and the self-cleansing action to correct them has not worked, and the animals used for livestock have…
On the very day she was born at a hatchery, she was taken to the farm.She is a chick of a “broiler” chicken for meat.Her birthday is 8/18.She is to be killed 50 days later, to be chicken meat.Mei and others don’t know that.For 50 days, we’ll report on the world viewed by Mei. Please sign up for our newsletter to follow her 50 days with us. Please sign the petition to support the activity to save chicks like Mei. https://50days.jp *This website is in Japanese, but the posts on our social media are translated into English (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) #50DAYS All these activities are supported by donation. Please donate…
Internal survey published Website documenting the 50 days of a broiler chicken: https://50days.jp 2020/10/7 Tokyo: Animal Rights Center Japan has exposed the hidden reality behind Japan’s broiler poultry farming for the first time, and has published the “50DAYS” website to inform the consumers, compiling videos and reports following the 50-day life of a broiler chicken from August 18 to October 7, 2020. Today is the final day, when all 50 days of their lives have been revealed. Videos and Photos for the press (please use freely for the purpose of reporting) https://50days.jp/media/ The world viewed by Mei the broiler “Mei, a baby chicken, was born at a hatchery and was trucked…
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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