ALIVE’s Primary Activities and What We Have Accomplished

Domestic Animals

Animal Dealers

There are over 10,000 animal breeders and dealers in Japan. ALIVE has been investigating those who keep animals in very bad conditions and campaigning for the tightening of regulations in order to put them out of business.

The revision of the Japanese Animal Welfare Law in 2005 has made it mandatory for an animal dealer to register with the appropriate authority but it is still hard to sweep off unscrupulous dealers.

We are currently campaigning for the next revision, with which we hope that the sale of live animals at stores will be banned and further restriction will be placed on animal dealers changing registration to licensing

Disposal of Unwanted Cats and Dogs by the Government

Back in 1974, when the animal protection law was first enacted in Japan, more than 1.1 million cats and dogs were destroyed. This number was reduced to approximately 340,000 in 2005.

Still, the conditions of public pounds are extremely bad and adoption of unwanted animals has not progressed as we hoped it would. ALIVE conducts survey on the current situations concerning animal policies of municipal governments and urges them to improve conditions of public pounds.

Abolition of Giving away of Unwanted Animals to Research Facilities

The number of cats and dogs given away to research facilities amounted to 100,000 in 1986. ALIVE and our sister organization, Anti-Vivisection Action network (AVA-net) have been working to ban the handover of unwanted cats and dogs to research facilities and we finally made the number of animals given away “zero” nationwide in 2006 ! It has taken us 20 years to accomplish this.

Campaign for the Revision of Law

The Animal Welfare Law (which used to be Animal Protection Law before it was revised in 1999) was revised in 1999 and 2005. It is, however, still insufficient in many areas and ALIVE is campaigning for effective measures against animal abuse, introduction of registration system of animal research facilities, enforcing animal welfare to farm animals, etc.

Animals in Display

Zoo Check

There are approximately 200 public and private zoos and aquariums in Japan but there is no law regulating them.

A lot of wild animals are confined in extremely tiny cages.

Since 1996, ALIVE has been conducting zoo check and bear park investigations and pressuring substandard facilities to close down as well as promoting improvement of conditions in which animals are kept and enrichment in captivity. As a result, some facilities have been shut down and there are some signs of promoting environmental enrichment. We will request for enacting zoo regulations that are specific and effective.

Surplus Animals

ALIVE is against zoos selling or giving away captive-bred animals to research facilities. We also monitor to prevent animals being sold to domestic or overseas facilities in poor conditions.

Regulation on the importation of wild animals

ALIVE is against capturing wild animals for human pleasure and confining them in zoos. We have succeeded in preventing some plans of importing wild animals such as rare Asian elephants from overseas to Japanese zoos.

Wild Animals in Japan

Bears

In 2004, more than 4,000 bears and in 2005, more than 5,000 bears were killed for sport hunting or for vermin control. If the killing bears will continue at this rate, there is a good chance that they will become extinct. Also, their gall bladder is smuggled as it is highly profitable. ALIVE has been campaigning for the protection of bears.

Japanese Monkeys

More than 10,000 Japanese monkeys, who are the only primate species in Japan besides humans, are killed for vermin control. We investigated the fact that captured Japanese monkeys were sold to research facilities and campaigned against it. As a result, the Ministry of Environment has banned the capture of animals for the purpose of selling them to research facilities.

But there is still a chance that they are secretly captured and sold to research facilities and we continue to monitor and investigate.

Banning/Regulating of Traps

ALIVE has been campaigning against the use of traps that hurt and kill animals at random and, as a result, hunting with the use of steel-jaw traps has been banned starting 2007. Also the use of snare traps has been put under severer regulation. We will monitor illegal use of traps.

Wildlife Protection Law

There is no wildlife protection law that covers all species in Japan. ALIVE works in coordination with environmental/wildlife protection organizations all over the country for the establishment of such law.

Farm Animals

Raising Public Awareness

People are beginning to become really concerned about food safety because of BSE, 0-157, and avian flu. But little is yet known how farm animals including cattle, pigs, and chickens are raised. We investigate, make videos, and hold photograph exhibition of farms and farm animals in order to let the public know the actual conditions in which farm animals are kept. We also take part in the study group consisting of animal behavior experts, consumer groups, and distribution firms and make policy recommendations.

Lifestyle Changes

We encourage the public to make some adjustment in lifestyle that costs lives of animals such as fur and meat eating.