Answers to research questions [Part 1]

The blog entry will answer Q1, Q8, and Q11 of our 30 questions.

Q1 What are animal rights?

Q8 What is Japan’s law to protect animal rights?

Q11 Which countries are strict about animal rights?

[ Animal Rights ]

Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as in avoiding suffering—should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings. Advocates for animal rights oppose the assignment of moral value and fundamental protections on the basis of species membership alone—an idea known as speciesism since 1970, when Richard D. Ryder adopted the term —arguing that it is a prejudice as irrational as any other. They maintain that animals should no longer be viewed as property or used as food, clothing, research subjects, entertainment, or beasts of burden. Multiple cultural traditions around the world such as Jainism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Animism also espouse some forms of animal rights. The promotion of better treatment for animals has a long history and can be traced in many parts of the world from ancient times. By contrast, the concept of moral rights for animals in a narrower philosophical sense, or of legal rights for animals, is predominantly a development of recent times. What follows is mainly the history of animal protection in the Western world. There is a rich history of animal protection in the ancient texts, lives, and stories of Eastern, African, and Indigenous peoples.

Animal welfare and rights in Japan is about the laws concerning and treatment of animals in Japan. Japan has had a national animal welfare law since 1973, but its protections for animals are weak by international standards. Animal activism in Japan is focused on the welfare of companion animals. Japan's main animal welfare law is the 1973 Act on Welfare and Management of Animals. The law makes it a crime to kill, injure, or inflict cruelty on animals without due cause, and creates a duty of care in owners and keepers of animals to maintain their health and safety and raise them in a manner according to their species and behavior. The law lists cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, domestic rabbits, chickens, domestic pigeons and domestic ducks, or other animals which have an owner and are mammals, birds or reptiles as protected, meaning that fish are not protected. The penalty for killing or injuring an animal in this category is a fine or imprisonment up to one year; abandonment and cruelty by neglect are punishable with fines. Farm animals besides fish are protected by the anti-cruelty and duty of care provisions. Slaughter is to minimize pain and distress (though appropriate methods are not specified and stunning is not required). There is no legislation specifically addressing farm animals, and livestock are excluded from the law's Regulations on Animal Handling Businesses. The anti-cruelty and duty of care provisions also apply to animals in research (except fish). In addition, the law stipulates that alternative methods and the reduction of the number of animals used be considered, and methods that minimize pain and distress be used as much as possible. Animals used in experiments should be killed in such a way that minimizes pain and distress. The law was amended in 2005 to crate new basic guidelines for experimentation based on the Three Rs (refine, replace, reduce) for animal testing; the law still relies heavily on self-regulation, however. In 2012, the law was amended to impose stricter regulations on sellers of dogs and cats; create measures for animal welfare during disaster; more clearly define animal abuse; and expand duty of care, stating that "every person shall maintain the environment and health of animals, shall feed and water animals properly by taking into account their natural habits and giving consideration to the symbiosis between humans and animals." In 2014, Japan received a D out of possible grades A, B, C, D, E, F, G on World Animal Protection's Animal Protection Index.

Topping the list of countries with the strictest animal laws is Switzerland. The Swiss Ordinance on the Protection of Animals of 2008 was enacted and its laws became some of the strictest in the world. Examples of these are pet owners may not crop the tails of dogs, not use sandpaper to line the bottom of a birdcage, puppies may not be separated from their mothers before they are 56 days old, social species such as birds, fish, and yaks must have companionship, horses must not be tied up and must be kept in close proximity to other horses to be able to see, hear, and smell them. Hong Kong’s governmental department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), is chiefly responsible for animal welfare law ordinances.Hong Kong’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, amended in 2006, punishes those found performing these abuses against animals to be liable to a fine of 200,000 Hong Kong Dollars and imprisonment for three years. In 2002, Germany added a provision to its constitution and added the words “and animals” to a phrase establishing environmental rights. The sentence now reads, “The state takes responsibility for protecting the natural foundations of life and animals in the interest of future generations.” The country thus became the first country in the European Union to give animals constitutional protection. In 2004, the U.K. government announced an overhaul of the land’s animal welfare laws. The decision would allow for earlier intervention in cruelty cases and raise the maximum sentence for such offenses. Fairs would no longer be allowed to give animals as prizes, children under the age of 16 would not be able to buy a pet, banning of tail docking in dogs, banning animal fighting, and detailing how to house animals and take care of them.

[References]

"Animal Rights" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_rights

"Society and Animal Welfare - Japan" https://www.esdaw.eu/society-and-animal-welfare---japan.html

"4 of the Best Places For Animals" By Visala Kantamneni (2013) https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/the-best-places-for-animals/

-A.K.