A meeting of the board of executives of the cross-party Animal Welfare Congressional Alliance ( commonly known as the Animal Welfare Alliance, chaired by House of Representatives member Takeshi Iwaya) was held, with more than dozen members of the Alliance gathered at the First House of Representatives building.

At the beginning of the board meeting, Chairman Iwaya opened the meeting by stating that there are many issues to be discussed by the Animal Welfare Alliance and that each issue must be addressed deeply and seriously.

The members then shared the understanding that a working team (WT) should be established to discuss urgent issues such as the ban on the consumption of dogs and cats, animal rights, and poultry farming issues, with each member having his or her own expertise in these areas.

Councilor Kusuo Oshima, a pioneer in banning the consumption of dogs and cats in Japan, insisted on the need to establish a WT to ban the consumption of dogs and cats and to legislate on the issue. Upon agreement by this board, he announced that he would begin substantive discussions with the cooperation of the Legislative Bureau of both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors.

With reference to the legislation in the U.S., it is hoped that legislation banning the consumption of dogs and cats will be considered under all possible options, and that a Japanese domestic law will be developed to provide momentum for the enactment of International Agreement to Prohibit the Eating of Dogs and Cats, which the World Dog Alliance is promoting internationally.

The regular Diet session will close in late June, but discussions on legislation to ban the consumption of dogs and cats are expected to continue to move forward, involving the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Legislative Bureau of both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors.