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 slaughterhouses
No 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 requirements for domestic consumption.

On the other hand, what about the situation in Japan? OIE’s “Slaughter of Animals”, which Japan has ratified, was created in 2005, and 16 years have passed since then, but we don’t think that “animal welfare at slaughterhouses” is yet pervasive in Japan.

The following video is a new investigative footage of Japan’s slaughterhouses taken between August 2020 and July 2021.

There are two slaughterhouses in this video, one is slaughterhouse C, at which we demanded improvement in 2016, and the other is the first slaughterhouse we investigated.

• Heavy use of electric stun guns
• Kicks, ride on pigs, hit with door fasteners, whip with a hose-like object many times
• Forcibly move weak or difficult-to-walk pigs with electric stun guns, kicks, or hits.
• After delivery, overcrowded moorings in which they are housed until slaughter the next day

Due to the heavy use of electric stun guns, pigs are frightened and frozen, which causes more workers to use electric stun guns. Due to the heavy use of stun guns, some pigs rolled off the second floor of the truck. There was also a scene where a stun gun was pressed against the back of the pig in front of him even though he couldn’t move because it was clogged ahead. Difficult-to-walk pigs were repeatedly kicked and hit with stun guns, and debilitated and crouching pigs were hit with stun guns and forced to move. Pigs whose legs were caught in the “steps” between the truck and the slaughterhouse mooring were also repeatedly kicked. There was a drinking facility at the pig mooring, which is rare in Japan*, but there were frequent struggles due to overcrowding that made it impossible to move to the water supply nipples. The overcrowded pigs in the video will be slaughtered the next day.

* 86.4% of pig moorings in Japan’s slaughterhouses do not have drinking facilities.

On 2021/8/4, we asked the animal welfare department of the municipality, where the two slaughterhouses in the video are located, for improvement guidance.

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 an employee discovers an act that appears abusive by pig carriers, etc., it will be corrected appropriately to stop improper handling”. Efforts were made for improvement such as “Distributing OIE rules and improvement methods to vendors and making them known.” (Please see here for details）

However, investigations from 2020 to 2021 once again revealed abusive behavior.

We made a request to the Animal Welfare Department that has jurisdiction over the slaughterhouse C (2021/8/4). Regarding this, we received a response on 2021/9/9.

We cannot be easily reassured from their response, as the abusive behaviors that were in 2016 are still taking place. However, at least the whole prefecture regarded the act on the pigs as a problem and took concrete measures.

Slaughterhouse F

Slaughterhouse F is the slaughterhouse that were first investigated between 2020 and 2021.

We made a request to the Animal Welfare Department that has jurisdiction over the slaughterhouse F (2021/8/4). Regarding this, we received a response on 2021/9/17.

We told the animal welfare department what kind of response each government had taken regarding the abuses at other slaughterhouses that we made requests to improve. First of all, we are asking them to recognize that the behaviors that are being taken at the slaughterhouse F is a problem, and then to give guidance for improvement and take concrete measures.

What we can do

• Sign the petition: End cruel treatment of animals at slaughterhouses
• Raise awareness about the situations at slaughterhouses using social media
• Send opinions to the government Ministry of the Environment MAFF MHLW 
  All three ministries may say that “slaughterhouse welfare” is not under their jurisdiction, but please tell them that you want the three ministries to work together to improve the problem without avoiding responsibility.
• Reduce or stop the intake of animal products
  The fundamental problem lies in the mass production and consumption of animals. The reality is that animals are being sent to slaughterhouses one after another so that there is no room for consideration for each animal. Reducing or stopping the intake of animal products is the direct and immediate way to reduce suffering.