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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…
On May 19th and 20th, we went to a pig farm that was closing down to rescue eight pigs who had been left behind and were scheduled for slaughter. We planned to picked up two pigs for long-distance transport on the night of the 19th and transport the remaining six pigs from early morning on the 20th to finish before it get hot. The destination for these pigs is split between three locations: two pigs will go to the “Ehime Sanctuary (tentative name),” four pigs will go to the “Future Cottage for Animals,” and the remaining two pigs will go to the “Future Home for Animals.” These three locations together…
This project started in March 2024, and we are currently working at a fast pace to prepare. Although we haven’t been able to share all the details yet, we are working as quickly as possible to free the pigs from their concrete pens. We will be releasing more information on this site and our social media. Please follow us! SOS! Please donate for the pigs’ new lives! We will provide updates and detailed cost breakdowns in the latest information below. Background of the Project At a pig farm nearing closure, there was a case of multi-animal hoarding and neglect involving dogs and cats. There, 9 pigs had been left behind…
In 2013, the Animal Rights Center signed a petition calling for the abolition of gestation stalls at five major Japanese meat companies: Nippon Ham, Prima Meat Packers, Itoham Foods, Starzen, and Marudai Food, and submitted the signatures collected that year. Ten years have elapsed since then, and all five companies have clarified their stance on the abolition of gestation stalls. Prima Meat Packers was the first company to make its position clear, stating in 2020 that it would not construct any new piggeries using gestation stalls in the future. Then, in November 2021, Nippon Ham announced that it would transition all gestation stalls on its domestic farms to herd rearing by…
Companies that have contributed to the spread of animal welfare The Animal Welfare Award (AWA) is an annual* award to express our gratitude to companies that have made animal welfare efforts with animals in mind in Japan, a country that lags behind the rest of the world in animal welfare for livestock and aquatic animals. We evaluated initiatives that we believe had the greatest possible impact from the perspective of the Animal Rights Center Japan, which is involved in activities to protect farm animals in Japan. *April 2022 – March 2023
In pig farms, animals die in breeding facilities more than any other places. They die not just because of miscarriage, but they also get slaughtered by hand by humans. Piglets are killed every day because they are unable to stand up, too weak, or too slow to develop. In this farm, piglets get smashed against the edge of the gestation crates, which results in slow and painful death. It’s also a common practice to kill them by injecting disinfectant, Pacoma, which causes blood coagulation in their heart. This method is not permitted per international standards as it’s not an approved usage of the infectant. Some also kill piglets by using…
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…
On July 28th 2022, we filed petitions to the Saijo Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution in regards to the case in which hogs were starved to death. We collected petitions from experts to send it over to the prosecutor in Saijo after the indictment for this case was suspended. The details of the case can be found here. So far, we have collected petitions from 27,406 individuals and we’re continuing to receive more. Opinions received from experts The following experts shared their opinions as we submitted the petitions: *alphabetical order Seiichi Kushida, a member of the House of Councilors of Japan Aya Sugimoto, the president of Animal Welfare Organization,…
56,000 pigs Killed in two months in a farm in Tochigi The fourth case of Swine fever was detected on July 23rd 2022 in Tochigi prefecture. The news reported that this was the biggest case in Japan as approximately 56,000 pigs would be culled. There have been 83 Swine fever cases, including this latest one, and 353,852 pigs will have been killed in Japan. This is as many as the population in Iwaki city of Fukushima prefecture, Kawagoe city of Saitama prefecture, or Takatsuki city of Osaka prefecture. We have been dealing with Swine fever by culling these affected pigs so far, but should we continue to take these innocent…
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…
As mentioned in this article, to the slaughterhouse C and slaughterhouse F, which had been abusive to pigs from 2020 to 2021, we had requested the animal welfare department that has jurisdiction over each of the slaughterhouses to provide improvement guidance. We report on the results. Slaughterhouse C Not only this time, but also in 2016, abusive behaviors (heavy use of stun guns, kicking, riding pigs and kicking the face) were exposed at the slaughterhouse C, and at that time, we were requesting the meat hygiene inspection responsible for the slaughterhouse to make improvements. The Meat Inspection Center regards the abusive behavior at this time as a problem, and “if…
Mother pigs, who are used as machines for producing meat pigs, continue to be detained in gestation crates and farrowing crates from the age of 6 month till they are killed. This is the case for 90% of breeding farms in Japan. They are slaughtered after being detained, being robbed of their child 3 or 4 times. How? Meat pigs called growing-finishing pigs are killed within 180 days, so when they are slaughtered, they weigh about 110 kg. On the other hand, a fully grown mother pig weighs more than 200 kg, a size that does not fit in a general slaughter lane. At one slaughterhouse, they are slaughtered as…
Animal Rights Center Japan has been working to improve the handling of cattle and pigs at slaughterhouses. 2016年に改善を要望していたD屠殺場は改善したのか？2020: “Welfare” not improving at slaughterhouses[Slaughterhouse in Japan] Tether too short to even lie down, tied overnight without even water夜中、屠殺場で豚に何が起きているのかと畜場へ、動物の扱いの改善要望Petition: End cruel treatment of animals at slaughterhousesNo action position of government: No water to quench animals’ thirst at slaughterhouses “Animal welfare at slaughterhouses” is so universal that the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health), of which Japan is a member, has established an animal welfare standard called “Slaughter of Animals”. It is an idea that has obtained international consensus*, having animal welfare requirements for slaughter set when exporting “beef” or “chicken”.*No animal welfare…
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…
Since it occurred at a pig farm in Japan in September 2018, classical swine fever has no sign of stopping. So far, the infection in pig farms has spread to 14 prefectures, and a total of 231,895 pigs have been depopulated (as of the end of April 2021). With avian flu, 9,689,703 birds were depopulated in the country from 2020 to 2021, and it was mentioned in these articles (1, 2) that this depopulation was not euthanasia. Depopulation for swine fever is also far from euthanasia. Pigs are killed by “disinfectant injection into the heart”, “electric killing”, or “carbon dioxide gas killing.” Use of disinfectant “Pakoma” On 2021/4/19, Mainichi Newspaper…
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…
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…
Don’t trap mother pigs! We for the campaign. “Don’t trap mother pigs!” campaign received a message of support from Professor Emeritus Kunio Fukuda of Meiji University. Pork is “produced” by an unimaginably cruel method = “sow stalls”. I strongly oppose the use of “sow stalls”. This is because, like humans, all living beings including pigs have emotions of happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy. Yoshida Kenko stated in “Tsurezuregusa” (128 steps) 700 years ago as follows.“Looking closely at all living things, birds, beasts, and even insects, their pure ways coming from their defense instincts, like caring for their children, longing for their parents, snuggling with their spouses, becoming jealous, upset, and…
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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