Japanese Companies Align Their Stance Toward Gestation Stall-Free; Marudai Food Mentions Imported Goods

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…

アニマルウェルフェアアワード2023
Aninmal Welfare Award 2023

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

Cruelty in Animal Farms – Why corporate transparency is so necessary

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 the World Day for Farmed Animals: Appeal the current situation of animals from Shibuya, Iwate, and Shiga

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…

Petition Filed: Hogs Starved to Death in Ehime

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

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…

2022 Awareness Survey regarding Livestock Animals

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…

日本ハム ストールフリー!
Good news! NH Foods Group announces gestation-crate free!

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…

Request for guidance to animal welfare administration regarding pig cruelty at slaughterhouses (2020-2021)

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…

屠殺 豚肉
The lives of mom pigs are miserable even their slaughter: Please reduce pork consumption

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…

August 2020 – July 2021 Animal handing at Japan’s slaughterhouses: New investigation footage released

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…

Tokyo Olympics: Will Animal Welfare Stay Neglected?

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…

Classical swine fever 2018-2021: Massacre, not euthanasia

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…

The Value of Animal Lives Livestock housing exempted from the Building Standards Act

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…

2021 Awareness Survey regarding Livestock Animals

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…

Endorsement Message from Meiji University Professor Emeritus Kunio Fukuda for “Don’t trap mother pigs!”

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 livestock industry is also subject to animal cruelty; what’s wrong in the light of the sound common sense of the general public is a crime

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…

“Can we continue our agribusiness like this in Japan?”Asked at Standing Committee on MAFF

A member of the House of Representative, Mr. Seiichi Kushida from Kanagawa, asked questions about battery cages for chicken hens, gestation crates for sows, dog meat, and treatment for retired horses at a committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held on November 11, 2020.  Mr. Kushida started by referring to the demands from the olympians that eggs and pork for the Olympics and Paralympics should come from cage free and gestation crate free ranches. With that, he requested minister Nogami from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF) to take a leadership role to tackle animal welfare issues in Japan.  In his response, the minister stated as follows: Animal…

2020: “Welfare” not improving at slaughterhouses

Animal Rights Center Japan has collected signatures and submitted the petition calling for improvements to slaughterhouse animal welfare, and has worked on various slaughterhouses 1 2 3.  But at the moment there is almost no information suggesting improvements. The problem of inadequate drinking water at slaughterhouses has not been solved.  Animal welfare education for slaughterhouse staff is not provided, either.  Dragging immobile cows with chains, not caring for lactating dairy cows (not milking etc), moving to slaughterhouse weak animals with hernia etc not suitable for transportation, twisting cows’ tails to move them… these present practices violate the animal welfare standards of the OIE (World Animal Health Organization) to which Japan is…

Ban Gestation Crates in japan!

Breeding sows are impregnated  (through artificial insemination or copulation with  boars) about 8 months after their birth. After impregnation, each sow is placed into a gestation crate (also known as a sow stall) – A metal crate or cage with a bare slatted floor. Is so narrow that she can’t even turn around or stretch. She stays in this crate for the whole of the gestational period (115 days). Shortly before giving birth, she is moved into a farrowing crate. A farrowing crate (or, stall) is similar to a gestation crate but with bars at the sides thorough which the newborn piglets (who are kept in a small enclosure, next…