Japan remains global laggard in fight against live animal testing

As for the unnecessary and cruel use of animals for cosmetics testing, Ricky Gervais said it best:

"Don't get shampoo in your eyes. It really stings. There. Done. Now ****ing stop torturing animals."

MilesTeg - Hardly surprising. Look at the very low numbers of animal shelters in Japan. The number of dogs and cats they 'euthanize' every year. It's a sad testament to people's attitudes toward animals.

Prefectures and larger municipalities do have animal shelters, albeit rarely "no-kill" type.

But, there are tons of NPO rescue groups here. There are many websites that allow them to post animals available for adoption.

One of our current dogs is a rescue adopted here in Japan. (She was rescued from a prefectural kill shelter by a local rescue group, which we found online.) And, I have been seeing more such dogs in recent years.

It's a nice progress from peoples' obsession with pure breeds and "new" things. It may be driven by economy, not just a desire to rescue, especially when they can save substantial money. 300,000-500,000yen, in the case of a new pure breed puppy.

If anyone is looking to adopt a dog or cat, you can start with these orgs and websites:

Animal Rescue Kansai (Kansai and Kanto locations. English-speaking!): http://www.arkbark.net/en/

Ley-Line: https://ley-line.info/

Omusubi: https://omusubi-pet.com/

Pet no Ouchi (Pet Home): https://www.pet-home.jp/

Pet Life: https://satooya.wancat.info/

MODERATORS: I realize this post may be slightly off-topic. But, it might help readers personally contribute to the health and welfare of animals in Japan, including possible former lab animals. So, please don't remove it.

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Ever been to a Japanese zoo? Tells you a lot about how much priority is given to animals here.

JT, Good work with this article, congrats.

Hardly surprising. Look at the very low numbers of animal shelters in Japan. The number of dogs and cats they 'euthanize' every year. It's a sad testament to people's attitudes toward animals.

IGiven the religions (Shintoism, an animist based religion) and Buddhism, that Japanese people claim to followI used to be shocked about the attitudes many here have regarding animals and sentient beings in general. "What a cute cat" to me does not make someone an animal lover.

Only the staunchest of Japan-apologists could defend this country on its treatment of animals, and this article is just the tip of the iceberg.

Visit any regional zoo and watch a polar bear aimlessly pace back and forth in their undersized, barren concrete enclosure, exclamations of "kawaii" from onlookers doing nothing to help its obvious distress.

Check out a festival or amusement park where locals laugh and applaud at the monkey with a leash around its neck being forced to jump through hoops.

Drop in to your local dog run during the middle of summer and fawn over how cute the dogs are in their fashionable hats and pet jackets as they hyperventilate in their unnatural garb.

Go to Taiji during their dolphin drives and watch how they're brutally slaughtered.

Or join the whalers in harpooing whales and, as they slowly bleed to death, justifying it because "Japanese culture."

The character of a nation can be judged by the way it treats its animals. By that metric, Japan's status as a "developed" country is completely void and obsolete.

Milan Kundera, in ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being,’ said, “True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind’s true moral test (which lies deeply buried from view) consists of its attitude toward those who are at its mercy: the animals. And in this respect, mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.”

""Meanwhile, in Japan animals are still subject to needless pain and sacrifice, a situation that seems unlikely to change any time soon.""

Please don't even get me started, hundreds of Whales are being slaughtered yearly in the name of Scientific Research , if Japan wants to be apart of the new world and step up to the levels of the EU it must first recognize the animals' right to life and stop abusing them.

Time is on the Animals side and with the help of articles like this and social media soon these unethical and abusive companies will be EXPOSED, then watch them crumble.

garypenToday  12:28 pm JST

For those who complain about Japanese society's cruelty and/or ambivalence to animals: You are wrong.

Japanese people, in general, love animals. But, greedy profiteers take advantage of that. So, you get puppy/kitten factories, pet shops selling puppies/kittens, zoos with atrocious living conditions, etc.

Unfortunately, most Japanese are unaware just how cruel those things are for the animals. They need education. They need to be made aware of the conditions in puppy mills and retail pet sellers; the proper way to house and care for zoo and aquarium animals; and the unnecessary cruelty of most animal testing.

As with just about everything else here, it takes time to catch up with the rest of the world. Change is slow here for a variety of reasons. But, it is changing. Unfortunately, there will always be greedy fuddmuckers who will gladly abuse animals if it'll make them a buck/quid/yen. Look at all the puppy mills in the US, which is generally considered an animal-loving country with many laws protecting animal rights. (Although that varies from state to state.)

Ignorance isn't a legitimate excuse anymore. With the number of resources freely available nowadays, it takes little effort to educate yourself and become aware. Why does someone have to be 'educated' by someone or some organization. If they love animals, they should have the motivation to educate themselves especially when it's so easy. It's not only about where you buy pets but also taking care of your pet so one can't only blame the puppy mills and pet shops.

The fact that animal testing is still unregulated and legal in Japan counters your stance that Japanese 'love' animals. A visit to a Japanese zoo would also contest your stance. You don't need to be an animal expert to know that the conditions are appalling and cruel. The recent rise in pet cafes is also an awful trend. Are you aware of the Taiji dolphin hunt? These are all things that people can see with their own eyes and it doesn't take an expert to know that it's wrong.

There are federal laws in the US to regulate puppy mills and breeders. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen but it makes it more and more difficult to get away with it because people are aware and report them.

Don’t see and don’t care is the Japanese way unless maybe a celeb is against it.

Good work JT.

Continue to expose and report on this.

Mainstream media is key to increasing awareness of these kind of issues in Japan, especially among the 40+ demographic. Unfortunately, social analysis and critique is lacking in the culture and media. Added to that, Japan loathes critique from outside.

Foreigners here don’t have a vote and go round in circles condemning aspects of society here, but it’s futile. The only option is gentle influence in their own offline Japanese circles.

Meanwhile, the mainstream continues to profile foreigners saying how much they love Japan, or talking about their niche cultural interest area.

Adjust to glacial pace of social change, influence your own circle, and realize that posting here is talking in an echo chamber.

Animal rights is in the top ten issues in my view, but higher in that list is judicial reform, gender equality, reducing political apathy through education and curriculum modernization, and an openness to critical debate in the media, especially TV.

Japan is a global laggard... is an exquisite phrase to describe the practice of using a vast variety of animals for medical testing in Japan and in all countries of the world. Beautiful animals such as rabbits, dogs, cats, monkeys, guinea pigs, horses, etc.etc.are subject to a life time of suffering in these ghastly laboratories used to test them. All animals have emotions and feelings, experience happiness and sadness and feel pain just as we, the two-legged flat-footed creatures do. Are we human beings? And are human beings humane? That question remains to be answered for a very long time into the future.

I read a meme the other day that suits this well.

Worker: We have to stop using live animals for testing our products.

Company director: Why? Shampoo companies do it all the time.

Worker: But we make hammers.

Japan is hopelessly behind the curve in many things, and in this case international pressure is not that strong so cosmetic companies don't see a benefit on increasing costs for a market that don't give importance to the problem. Still, signs that the situation is changing are appearing so there is still hope.

Nevertheless PETA as the organization to represent the rights of animals seems a poor choice, other organizations with much better records could have been a better option.

I worked with a Japanese researcher who was unaware of the stick rules around animal testing in the West and said he enjoyed inflicting pain on animals, laughing and saying, "but it's fun!".

That is just a baseless excuse, Any institution in Japan where animal experimentation is done is required by law to have a department in charge of the animals, an ethical committee that approves every experiment and the animals included and (most importantly) every person involved have to be trained in the ethical experimentation in animals, this means the researcher has to know about every rule about animal testing (the three Rs, etc.) in order to be allowed to deal with them. Inflicting pain on purpose is a perfectly valid ground for his suspension, the cancellation of any experiment he is involved and even every single animal experiment in the institution he is working.

For those who complain about Japanese society's cruelty and/or ambivalence to animals: You are wrong.

Japanese people, in general, love animals. But, greedy profiteers take advantage of that. So, you get puppy/kitten factories, pet shops selling puppies/kittens, zoos with atrocious living conditions, etc.

Unfortunately, most Japanese are unaware just how cruel those things are for the animals. They need education. They need to be made aware of the conditions in puppy mills and retail pet sellers; the proper way to house and care for zoo and aquarium animals; and the unnecessary cruelty of most animal testing.

As with just about everything else here, it takes time to catch up with the rest of the world. Change is slow here for a variety of reasons. But, it is changing. Unfortunately, there will always be greedy fuddmuckers who will gladly abuse animals if it'll make them a buck/quid/yen. Look at all the puppy mills in the US, which is generally considered an animal-loving country with many laws protecting animal rights. (Although that varies from state to state.)

There is a case for animal testing in some cases.

Still, bad as it is there are sometimes

no alternatives.

However,

I wonder why there is such a plethora of wild animals in Japanese pet shops?

Monkeys,Fennic foxes and Meercats are just some of the animals that just shouldn’t be here!

colenalperuToday  03:33 pm JST

Animal rights is in the top ten issues in my view, but higher in that list is judicial reform, gender equality, reducing political apathy through education and curriculum modernization, and an openness to critical debate in the media, especially TV.

Maybe they already do but teaching or improving how they teach high school students Japan's political system would be a priority. Voter turnout is already bad. It's abysmal when looking at young people. The only people who vote are those over 40yrs so you know why things never change, By that age they've become apathetic and disinterested so just vote for more of the same.

...after killing an estimated 1,500 animals, including sheep and monkeys, in testing since 2018 in the development of a brain implant the company hopes will help paralyzed people walk again.

1,500 is excessive to say the least. Human beings were called to be stewards of the Earth and everything in it. That being said, humans and animals are not equivalents and PETA along with other similar organizations have apparently forgotten this fact.

I often question myself if Japan is truly s developed society and a full democracy.

From the “justice” system to the long working hours and low salaries to a one party state full of corruption and of course this insensitivity about animal rights.

The European Union is a perfect example of how a developed society should treat animals.