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In February 2019, hog cholera crossed the border of Gifu prefecture and reached Aichi, Nagano, Shiga, and Osaka prefectures. There are many livestock producers in the area of Tahara-city of Aichi prefeture. Many pigs have been killed since cholera was first observed in Gifu prefecture in 2018. The number of pigs killed has risen to 40,000 in total as of February 2019. It is horrifying to imagine there will be more pigs killed considering the concentration of such business in Tahara city in Aichi. The reports by media and comments by concerned parties only focus on economical damage. However, the biggest loss and victims are indeed pigs. It is not…
Many pigs get transported to slaughterhouses from noon to night one day before they get slaughtered. Their breath is heavy already, and some are foaming at the mouths. Then, they get showered to rinse off their feces and urine. This is the same procedure in winter, too. 86% of pig slaughterhouses in Japan don’t have drinking water for pigs, so pigs can’t drink after they lick some water mixed with feces and urine on the floor coming from the shower. And, night falls. What happens there? You hear pigs’ fierce cry, scream, and sound of battle at night, midnight, and dawn, all the time. Again, this lasts all nightlong. Please…
Egg laying hens get slaughtered in a year or two after their egg production slows down. They are used for frozen foods or canned meat. These chickens go through long hours of transportation, then, get abandoned for a long period of time at slaughterhouses. We’ve been working with concerned parties to improve this since 2017 after we investigated this situation. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery (MAFF) issued a notification to relevant parties to improve the situation on March 26th 2018. At the same time, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) gave the notification, and the Ministry of Environment issued an announcement in relation…
Chickens with red skin. This is a picture taken in 2017 in Japan. The reason why their skin gets red is because of the errors that take place at slaughterhouses. Their necks often don’t get slit properly, and as a result, the birds are boiled alive. In Japan, chickens with red skin like this are disposed as “chickens with failure of bleeding.” In other words, these are “accidents,” and the birds’ lives, sufferings, and pain get tossed away as though nothing occurred. What kind of pain? No Stunning Many slaughterhouses kill birds by slitting their throats without stunning by utilizing electronic shock or gas to knock out birds first in…
In the slaughterhouses that made requests for improvement and suggestions for improvement in 2017, a big signboard was set up to handle animals gently. The problematic treatment at this slaughter house is as follows. As a way to move pigs, the carriers and slaughter workers are doing “the often use of electric type pursuit equipment” “grasp the ear and the tail and pull it” “kick the body” “kick the face on the pig” “make a big voice like threatening” Through opportunities such as morning meetings, and they instructed the proper handling, and in order to continue the treatment, it was set up in two places where large stand posters are…
Today, the methods of slaughtering chickens, whether they are for meat or eggs, are to hang them upside down in shackles. Then, they are put into an electrified water tank until unconscious, if they are lucky. Those unlucky ones get their throats (artery) slit while being conscious, bled to death, and then put into boiled water. In order to minimize the sufferings, they should be knocked unconscious or stunned by gas or electricity. Instead, chickens necks are cut without such procedures, then, electricity is used after, in order to let them bleed more or calm the chickens. In the EU, it’s not allowed to cut chickens’ necks without making them…
Currently, there are few drinking facilities at slaughterhouses in Japan. Cows and pigs can’t drink water on their last day*1. Motivated by the question asked by Mr. Katsuya Ogawa of the Democratic Party, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued a notice about “Placement of drinking facilities for animals at slaughterhouses newly built or renovated” to all prefectures and cities with public health centers. This notice prompts drinking facilities at slaughterhouses referring to the animal welfare standard of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE.) Notice No. 0308 Article 8. March 8, 2017 To: Directors of Responsible Public Health Division (Bureau) in all prefectures and cities with public health centers From:…
■ Survey period: May through July 2016 ■ Survey conducted by: NPO Animal Rights Center ; ■ Target of Survey: Slaughterhouses (177 facilities in operation) ; ■ Number of Respondents: 96 facilities (54% answered) *We did not include the facilities that mentioned only the kinds of animals they have in this count. ; Kinds of Operated Animals Cows: 78 facilities Pigs: 79facilities Other animals (sheep, goat, horses, etc.):30 facilities *some facilities overlap Drinking Situations Animals can drink water any time before being slaughtered. Cows: 55% Pigs: 25% Other animals: 21% Cows 42 out of 77 facilities replied that their animals could drink water any time (55%). 65 facilities said animals…
We met Sakura at a slaughterhouse in the winter of 2016. She was loaded onto a truck, bloody, with her intestines protruding from her body. She endured most of her life in a gestation crate, small crates designed for pregnant farm pigs that do not allow for movement. She was unable to even turn around or interact with other pigs. She was raised just to bear and deliver piglets. The day that she was finally allowed to leave the crate was the day that she was brought to the slaughterhouse. She could no longer be used as a breeding machine so there was no need to keep her alive. She…
In Japan, there are no regulations regarding animal welfare before and during slaughter. As a result, many animals are not provided with enough water to be comfortable, and after suffering from excruciating thirst, they are slaughtered. The conditions of hens are especially miserable. Seven to ten hens are packed into small containers and without access to water, they are transported long distances on trucks. They stay in the containers until they are killed. Some poultry famers stop giving their hens water a half day before departure. As a consequence, those hens suffer for extremely long times. Most poultry farmers who raise broilers (chickens raised for meat) want to keep time…
Please sign petition End cruel treatment of animals at slaughterhouses in japan https://goo.gl/ky5o7D This video was filmed in 2015,Japan Please share this problem people around you. ● Carried in trucks, terrified cows are kicked from the truck, their tails are twisted or even crushed to force them to move. ● In order to make pigs move, stun-gun are used excessively. ● Pigs suffering from disease are left for an extended amount of time, then hung by the leg and dragged away. ● Animals that are carried to the slaughter house in the afternoon are not fed and are butchered the next day. They are not even given water. (They are seen drinking dirty water from the ground while they are being washed) Cruelty and inhumane actions towards animals at slaughter houses is not the responsibility of individuals. It is an issue of the system. We request the government to make an effort in stopping animal cruelty. At the least individuals and slaughter house should be made aware of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health code. *This photo is this taken in 2015 Japan. These are pigs in a holding pen waiting to be killed in the adjacent slaughterhouse. Points on slaughterhouses extracted from the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health code. ● “…mammals and ratites which are not taken directly upon arrival to the place of slaughter should have drinking water available to them from appropriate facilities at all times.” ● “Animals which have not been slaughtered within 12 hours of their arrival should be fed, and should subsequently be given moderate amounts of food at appropriate intervals.” ● “Under no circumstances should animal handlers resort to violent acts to move animals, such as crushing or breaking tails of animals, grasping their eyes or pulling them by the ears.” ● “The throwing or dropping of animals, or their lifting or dragging by body parts such as their tail, head, horns, ears, limbs, wool, hair or feathers, should not be permitted.” ● “Electric goads and prods should only be used in extreme cases and not on a routine basis to move animals. The use and the power output should be restricted to that necessary to assist movement of an animal and only when an animal has a clear path ahead to move. Goads and other aids should not be used repeatedly if the animal fails to respond or move. In such cases it should be investigated whether some physical or other impediment is preventing the animal from moving.” ● “Painful procedures (including whipping, kicking, tail twisting, use of nose twitches, pressure on eyes, ears or external genitalia), or the use of goads or other aids which cause pain and suffering (including large sticks, sticks with sharp ends, lengths of metal piping, fencing wire or heavy leather belts), should not be used to move animals.” ● “Injured or sick animals, requiring immediate slaughter, should be killed humanely and without delay” OIE Code for slaughterhouses http://www.oie.int/animal-welfare/animal-welfare-key-themes/
In February, 2014, the Danish Agriculture Minister, Dan Jorgensen, made the following comment about banning slaughtering without stunning, “Animal rights come before religion.” Workers following certain religious customs, for example, those connected to Islamic Halal and Jewish Kashrut practices, slaughter animals without first stunning them. The cutting of the carotid arteries causes extreme pain to animals that have not been stunned. Some people in Japan are slaughtering animals according to Islamic halal traditions. This practice might start in Hokkaido. During the prefectural assembly held on September 16, in the reply to the question given from Atuko Okoshi (a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Hokkaido Prefectual Assembly), the governor…
In Japan, binding regulations for animal welfare related to slaughter do not exist. Many animals in slaughterhouses are under extreme thirst. The conditions of pigs and cows in Japanese slaughterhouses (2011 Investigation conducted by Meat Hygiene Inspection Center) http://nichiju.lin.gr.jp/test/html/mag/06612/d1.pdf According to the research above, 50.4% of cows and 86.4% of pigs in slaughterhouses have no water to drink. (Only 7% of slaughterhouses kill all animals on the same day they are brought in.) No official investigations have been conducted to research conditions of chickens in slaughterhouses. However, none of the poultry processing plants we have privately visited provide food or water to chickens. We suspect no processing plants in Japan supply…
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…