On July 7, 2023, an information exchange meeting organized by
THE Pet Houjuku (THE Pet Law Academy), represented by Attorney Ueda was held, bringing together animal welfare legislators, experts, and others, aiming to understand the dysfunctions caused by existing laws in a society striving for coexistence with animals.
Using real cases of animal abuse, presentations were made on the contradictions within animal laws in different fields, necessary legal amendments for the future, and immediate legal measures that can be taken.
From the Animal Welfare Congressional Alliance, which promotes legislation to ban the consumption of dogs and cats, Vice-Chairman Seiichi Kushida and Kusuo Oshima expressed their opinions.
The members expressed doubts regarding the Ministry of Justice’s reluctance to define animals as “sentient beings” not “property” due to the difficulty of making individual judgments for each animal or regulation. However, they mentioned that the Ministry of Justice has shown a willingness to cooperate when provisions for protecting abused animals are proposed.
Furthermore, the member highlighted various contradictions, such as the fact that the consumption of dogs and cats is allowed in Japan despite not being deeply rooted in its food culture, while many other countries are progressing towards legislating a ban on their consumption. They also raised the question of where the dog meat currently appearing on menus is sourced from, considering the zero recorded import quantity of dog meat for many years. Taking into account both the perspectives of animal welfare law and food hygiene law, they stated that there is a possibility to consider the legislation to ban the consumption of dogs and cats in Japan.
It is a story about the experience where Member Kushida asked Chat GPT, “Are animals objects?” and received the obvious answer that “they are not objects”.
From biological, ethical, and moral perspectives, the consumption of dogs and cats should be prohibited.
The World Dog Alliance will continue to promote the legislation to ban the consumption of dogs and cats with the support and collaboration of endorsing members from various perspectives.