Jozankei Bear Farm

Response from Sapporo City

ALIVE sent a letter of request to Sapporo City on August 17, urging that improvements be made at the Jozankei Bear Farm. The Mayor of Sapporo replied to the ALIVE’s request on August 31. An English translation of his letter appears below.

 

Response to ALIVE’s Request
Regarding the Treatment of Bears at Jozankei Bear Park and Sending a Warrant

August 31, 2011

To: Founder, NPO ALIVE, Ms. Fusako Nogami

Mayor of Sapporo, Fumio Ueda

I am writing in response to your request sent to the city of Sapporo on August 17, 2011.

1. Need Order from the City to Improve the Treatment of Bears

In accordance with the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals, the city advised Jozankei Bear Park to make sure to clean the facility regularly and to provide appropriate care and treatment to their bears. We also advised the park to take appropriate breeding measures when the bear population at the facility increased due to unsupervised breeding, as this hinders good treatment.

2. Provide Guidance on Proper Feeding and Watering

In accordance with the habitats in which the bears are kept, we told the park to provide water and to feed the animals appropriate food at an appropriate timing. The city also told to maintain fresh water in the keeping areas (concrete pits.)

3. Violation of Article 28 (Permission for Change)

When any change in the registration information occurs, the city warned the park that it is required to notify the prefectural governor to that effect by attaching the relevant documentation within 30 days from the date of such change.

4. Municipal Government Inspection and Supervision

The city will make certain to check whether appropriate care is being provided at facilities with problems when conducting on-site inspections. We will also make certain to inspect such facilities regularly. When necessary, we will work with experts to obtain appropriate help and advice in order to practice effective inspections.

5. Consider the Life Span of Brown Bears, Keep Good Data and Make it Available to Public

We will maintain and publicize data in an appropriate manner, according to the regulations concerning public information access set forth by the city of Sapporo.

6. Identify Individual Bears

We advised the park to keep well-organized records and data, in order to manage the specified animals and to identify individual bears.

7. Take Appropriate Measures in the Event of Violations of Specified Animal Notification Requirements

We told the park to put in place a secure system and measures to prevent people from trespassing in the park. We also advised the park to display a sign, so that people from outside are able to know that bears are kept in the area and that it is off-limits.

8. Neglect of Municipal Animal Administration

Sapporo City is aware of the importance of taking appropriate care of animals and of cultivating the humane treatment of animals. When we conduct on-site inspections, we will make certain to instruct the management of any animal handling facilities to provide appropriate treatment of the animals kept at such facilities. We will also supervise problem facilities and their owners in order to ensure that they provide a healthy environment for the animals that they keep.

Public Health and Social Welfare, Animal Management Center