Animal Cruelty Laws in Japan? Do they exist?

[Kyoto Returnee]

Do laws exists and if so, are they policed?

I've noticed how cruel some people treat dogs, leaving them tied up on leads 24/7, and no doubt other animals included as my wife keeps remidning me.

I used to see this often in the Kansai area..

Anybody else seen and/or heard first hand accounts of animal cruelty in Japan?

I know ARK (Animal Rescue Kansai exists) It's a non governmental organisation. http://www.arkbark.net/

[Mikawa Ossan]

I think this the closest thing to what you are looking for. I have no idea how rigidly it is enforced.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%...B3%95%E5%BE%8B

[centrajapan]

I've noticed how cruel some people treat dogs, leaving them tied up on leads 24/7, and no doubt other animals included as my wife keeps remidning me.

I used to see this often in the Kansai area..

true. In Norway it is too cold to have dogs outside so they are kept inside. It becomes completely different. Dogs here don't bark as they do in Japan and are less stressed.

[Kyoto Returnee]

Originally Posted by Mikawa Ossan

I think this the closest thing to what you are looking for. I have no idea how rigidly it is enforced.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%...B3%95%E5%BE%8B

Got through the translation. Thanks for posting.

[Sarapva]

Thanks for starting this thread, Kyoto - I've thought of starting a similar one. It's good to know that there are animal rights groups in Japan like ARK, and I know there's a Japan Greenpeace. I'd be interested also in any other information about animal welfare in Japan. I'd like to try to understand the Japanese way of thinking about animals.

Is there an English translation of that wikipedia article, Mikawa Ossan?

[Mikawa Ossan]

Originally Posted by Sarapva

Is there an English translation of that wikipedia article, Mikawa Ossan?

http://www.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/lac/law&standard.html

This is not a translation of the page I gave a link to earlier, but rather an English translation of the laws in question.

[Astroboy]

Japan drops humpback whale hunt

A controversial Japanese mission to hunt humpback whales has been temporarily abandoned, a top government official says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7155255.stm

Again Japan bows to the external pressure. This is what Anglo-American aimed.
They say... "because we don't like, Japan must not do whaling."
Only hatred remains in Japan.

Japan is not a Islamic country, but I am more pro-Islam now!

[Kyoto Returnee]

Originally Posted by Astroboy

Japan drops humpback whale hunt

Again Japan bows to the external pressure. This is what Anglo-American aimed.
They say... "because we don't like, Japan must not do whaling."
Only hatred remains in Japan.

Japan is not a Islamic country, but I am more pro-Islam now!

They may have "bowed" to external pressure, but they are still killing whales and dolphins.

It would be interesting to know exactly what "silent" pressure is in Japan.

I'm sure it's huge. I know most Japanese I have spoken to think it is barbaric and state they could never eat whale.

I would say the killing lies with the old boys in government and the hunters who get paid to slaughter the beautiful creatures..

I miss the point. What's Islam got to do with the whale and animal cruelty issue?

[Goldiegirl]

To me it seemed that many dogs were merely an accessory in Japan. They were dressed up and paraded around, but I couldn't see that there was a real attachment. Actually I get that impression a lot while in Japan. Of course all people are different and this was just my personal observation. My husband too, although he had a cat when growing up, nothing was spent on its care or well being. It was just there. If it ran away or got killed...oh well...

sorry I just had to add this. Do Japanese people really believe that you have to kill whales to study them scientifically? That is just so absurd and utterly ridiculous, perhaps we should then hunt gorillas, snow leopards, pandas and other animals to "study" them. I would think tracking them with radar and observation would be a better way to study whales than to kill them. AND if it is for science why then do they EAT them?

[pipokun]

Originally Posted by Goldiegirl

...
sorry I just had to add this. Do Japanese people really believe that you have to kill whales to study them scientifically? That is just so absurd and utterly ridiculous, perhaps we should then hunt gorillas, snow leopards, pandas and other animals to "study" them. I would think tracking them with radar and observation would be a better way to study whales than to kill them. AND if it is for science why then do they EAT them?

Just google "Hunting Africa".
You can find so many proud hunters. (I know some money from the European/American hunters helps the preservation of animals.)

I heard KFC Japan conducts a ceremony every year for the chicken they use like many universites or corporate science laboratories do.
Killing animals and showing your appreciation to the lives is not mutually exclusive. If Japan consumed animal lives excessively, I mean there were super obese people eating much with dieting pills, or just dumped them for our scientific reserch, it must be a problem.

[Goldiegirl]

Yep money spent on hunting does go for preserving the very same animals that are being hunted, the difference is we don't "sugar coat" the hunting by saying it is for science. My husband and I argue on whaling weekly, he truly believes it's "science". I am amazed that anyone would believe that one! What a whopper!

[Sarapva]

Originally Posted by Mikawa Ossan

http://www.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/lac/law&standard.html
This is not a translation of the page I gave a link to earlier, but rather an English translation of the laws in question.

Thanks, MO! It looks like these are for animals used in experiments. I wonder if there are any government laws about animals in general - pets and wild animals?

posted by Kyoto Returnee:

I would say the killing lies with the old boys in government and the hunters who get paid to slaughter the beautiful creatures..

This is from the BBC in a different story related to the one Astroboy posted:

In the past officials from Japan's foreign ministry complained privately that a small but vocal minority in parliament and in the fishing industry were tarnishing the country's image abroad, by insisting on the right to continue whaling in the face of international condemnation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7156288.stm

It sounds like the pro-whalers in Japan are a miniority that knows how to get its voice heard. But it also sounds like the rest of the Japanese government might be against whaling.

As for the "scientific research": I think the Japanese whalers and the IWC both know it's just a legal term to cover the IWC's compromising because of Japan's insistence that they keep their whaling tradition.

[Astroboy]

Originally Posted by Sarapva

Thanks, MO! It looks like these are for animals used in experiments. I wonder if there are any government laws about animals in general - pets and wild animals?
posted by Kyoto Returnee:
This is from the BBC in a different story related to the one Astroboy posted:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7156288.stm
It sounds like the pro-whalers in Japan are a miniority that knows how to get its voice heard. But it also sounds like the rest of the Japanese government might be against whaling.
As for the "scientific research": I think the Japanese whalers and the IWC both know it's just a legal term to cover the IWC's compromising because of Japan's insistence that they keep their whaling tradition.

Congratulation. You win for the time being.

BTW it is interesting to see that foreigners cannot see "inside Japan".
Western media e.g. BBC/NY times... looks idiots.
Probably Westerners cannot read Japanese text, while it is already times of internet and translation software. In other words, they always rely on limited English source for information about Japan.... being the same as 100 years ago.

[centrajapan]

Yep money spent on hunting does go for preserving the very same animals that are being hunted, the difference is we don't "sugar coat" the hunting by saying it is for science. My husband and I argue on whaling weekly, he truly believes it's "science". I am amazed that anyone would believe that one! What a whopper!

Had it not been for Japan's sceince we would not have known that various whale spicies are no where near being endangered. Japan's scientific research programme has been hailed by the IWC Scientific committee. The Scentific Committee consists of both tolerant and racist scientists.

I don't think any country is as tolerant and kind to forreign irrational sentiments as Japan is.

[Mikawa Ossan]

Originally Posted by Sarapva

Thanks, MO! It looks like these are for animals used in experiments. I wonder if there are any government laws about animals in general - pets and wild animals?

I'm sorry, I should have been more thorough. Apparently the English version does not translate most of the law (at least for the first one "Law Concerning the Protection and Control of Animals"). I'll be having a lot of time soon, so I might even translate the rest myself for you. (But keep posting here, as otherwise I might forgot about this.....sorry. Sounds bad, but it's the honest truth.m(__)m)

[Sarapva]

Thank you, MO! I'll do some searching myself for Japanese welfare laws. I'm sure there's an English version somewhere online.

Posted by Astroboy:
Congratulation. You win for the time being.

I'm really not trying to win anything. I'd like to just come to some understanding. Maybe you could help us westerners to understand how Japanese people think about animals(?). Do you know of any animal welfare laws?

[Astroboy]

Originally Posted by centrajapan

I don't think any country is as tolerant and kind to forreign irrational sentiments as Japan is.

....and they change the rule as they did before.
They will again change the rule when whales become a threat to other resource of sea.

[pipokun]

Originally Posted by Goldiegirl

Yep money spent on hunting does go for preserving the very same animals that are being hunted, the difference is we don't "sugar coat" the hunting by saying it is for science. My husband and I argue on whaling weekly, he truly believes it's "science". I am amazed that anyone would believe that one! What a whopper!

What is coated on the only people in the rich oil-producing state having the right to whale? And Alaska is also one of the states who is tackling with the problem, obesity, isn't it?

As said, protecting animal right and consuming animal is not mutually exclusive, but it is a problem to cosume excessively.

[Kyoto Returnee]

Originally Posted by pipokun

As said, protecting animal right and consuming animal is not mutually exclusive, but it is a problem to cosume excessively.

"Scientific Purposes"

[Goldiegirl]

I would just like the Japanese people to say they HUNT whales...there's no need to lie and say it is for science. What has whale hunting have to do with obesity in Alaska. Oh, so maybe if Japan kills all the whale Alaskans will be skinny?

[Sarapva]

I've found some information about Japanese animals welfare laws. This is from an article about animal welfare laws in Japan:

Companion animals are the most protected category of animal group in Japan. In 1973 the Law for the Protection and Management of Animals was enacted which included a standard of proper feeding and custody of dogs and cats (Takeuchi, 2003). This was amended in 1999, with a name change to the Law for the Humane Treatment and Management of Animals and the standard changed from "dogs and cats" to home animals" which includes those kept at schools and in shelters (Takeuchi, 2003). Penalties for the unnecessary killing of an animal increased from a maximum of US$250 to US$8500 and/or up to 1 years imprisonment, while for animal abuse from US$250 to US$2500 (Takeuchi, 2003). The first felony conviction, for the torture and killing of a kitten, occurred in 2002 (Wikipedia, 2007).

http://www.helium.com/tm/553714/essa...ocio-economics


And this is from Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK):

In 1973 the Japanese hastily put together a law called the Animal Protection and Control Law in time for the visit to Japan of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. They wanted to show the world they cared about the welfare of Japanese animals. This law however, dubbed the ' sieve law' was primarily designed to protect people from animals, not the other way around. It was totally ineffective, unknown (to authorities like the police) and therefore unenforceable. It had no definition of cruelty and the handful of truly terrible cases that have been prosecuted in nearly 30 years have been let off with a paltry 30,000 yen ( 250 US $) fine, less than one would get for stealing a bicycle.

It was generally acknowledged by everyone that the 1973 law was in need of repeal so a coalition of over 100 animal groups joined together to begin planning and lobbying for this. However differences emerged within the coalition over what people wanted or expected. Some wanted experimental animals included in the new law. Getting a law before the Japanese Diet requires a lot of backroom lobbying of MPs from the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP). Since big business and politics go hand in hand in Japan, any talk of controlling the way pharmaceutical companies dealt with experimental animals was obviously an anathema to politians. In fact they said that unless the clause about experimental animals was dropped, they wouldn't co-operate at all. Unbeknown to the majority of coalition members, all of whom had paid a membership fee, secret negotiations took place between the 'well-known', well-in with the government' animal welfare groups and the LDP. They announced the new law (hardly debated) as passed, a fait accompli. Members of the coalition were furious at the way they had been passed over without any consultation. They were even more furious when they saw that the new law was virtually the same as the old one dressed up with a few cosmetic changes.

The small changes include a name change from Protection and Control to Doubutsu Aigo (Love Animals) Protection and Control Law and a raising of fines for cruelty. The only redeeming feature of the new law is that it has to come up for revision within 5 years, so we have three years to go. Whether an effective revision can indeed be realized, depends on the unity of opinion among animal welfare groups and getting sympathetic politicians working on our side.

http://www.arkbark.net/e/index.htm

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by pipokun

What is coated on the only people in the rich oil-producing state having the right to whale?

Hunting is Alaska is sanctioned through the International subsistence whaling exemption. Same with Russia, Canada, etc. It is a condition that doesn't apply to the Makah nation off Seattle, as one example, who always build an appeal not on grounds of subsistence, but rather of 'cultural necessity.'

Nothing to do with oil-richness which, by the way, doesn't trickle down to any particular benefit to the indigenous people.

[maxcohen]

I read a recent story about a guy beating a chihuahua to death because "It scared him" 0.o

[Otenba]

I agree that most dogs I've seen looked like accessories. Most were pure-bred toy breeds like Pommeranians, Chihuahuas and other tinys, and ofcourse Shibas. Their character is something else. I'm very involved with the breed Akita (Japanese type, not American bootleg) and many breeders boast with having imported Akitas from Japan. However, those dogs and their direct descendants/offspring often come with personalities... Stay away. Do not touch. Do not get close.
For the simple reason that those dogs don't get cuddled or socialized in Japan most of the time. They're kept in kennels, even small crates, all day, for the sole purpose of looking pretty and making their owner look prestigious which has to do with the history of the Akita. Japanese people I talked to about Akitas, often said those dogs scared them. After listening to their experiences, I would bring up my 2 Akitas which were bred in France, and mention how much they loved people and physical contact. "USO!"...

Although, except for Akitas, I noticed that large dogs seem to have better owners. While I've seen toy dogs to be degraded to just that - toys - large dogs seem to trigger a greater sense of responsibility and they did not wear diamond collars, but their owners did seem like they had a bond with their animal. Even shared a bench to sleep on together. Unfortunately, Akitas seem exempt from this and doomed to live in cages in too many cases.

About whaling for science: apparantly, everything is tolerated in the name of science, but some science must yet proove it's purpose. I mean, I've seen "scientists" tie a cat to a table, NOT sedate it, cut it's head open, remove its brain with a tea spoon and replace it with cotton balls. The only science I saw being done there, was "How far can a normal person actually go in their cruelty without flinching?"....

And if that killing is meant to preserve the same species of whales... Well, after you killed 98 out of a 100, 2 have indeed been "preserved". Let's hope they're not both of the same sex.
No, I do not think that only rich, oil-blessed nations should be allowed to kill, drop nukes, throw their weight around and so on. They should ALL be under stricter international control if they cannot control themselves. This may sound cheesy, but if my child will one day ask me where she or he can see dolphins in real life after having fallen in love with them from pictures, I don't think I could take telling my kid that they've all been butchered. As cheesy as it may sound, we should ALL be concerned and enthousiastic in preserving this one and only world we live in, and its unique life forms that have made so many happy - alive.

I've seen one animal shelter having a stand in Shinjuku to collect donations and spread information. Everytime someone got involved with them, they looked so happy it seemed like they didn't get much attention. I'll never understand how you can "love" your pet only as long as it's cute. My 5 cats and 2 dogs make me so happy. Warm, cuddly, no opinion, unconditional acceptance of their keeper and so modest. They deserve better than being deserted after growing out of their pink dress.

[Sarapva]

Well said, Otenba! Thank you for all that "inside" information.