On 3 March 2020, 34 lawmakers of the Parliamentary League for Animal Welfare submitted the petition letter requesting Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide to initiate the International Agreement to Prohibit the Eating of Dogs and Cats.

We pay our respects to the 34 lawmakers who resonate with the World Dog Alliance’s campaign to establish the Agreement for their contribution. Many have praised the 34 lawmakers for making Japan the third country petitioned to initiate the Agreement after the United States and the United Kingdom.

There are a total of 707 lawmakers in Japan pushing forward thousands of policies simultaneously. Successfully promoting one’s advocate is not a simple task. 

The policies fortunate enough to be chosen by the parliamentary league will be submitted to the responsible minister for review, which is usually deemed unimportant in a busy session.

This time is different. The 34 lawmakers’ petition letter was handed to Kato Katsunobu, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, in person, and immediately forwarded to the Ministry of Environment (MoE). Submitting a request in such a prestigious way was so unusual for the MoE that it was impossible to neglect the petition letter.

The MoE responded, “about the petition letter, we are aware of the lawmakers’ campaign. We will keep an eye on their activities in near future.”

After the end of the supplementary budget deliberation, questioning sessions for ministers will be held in early February.

We are looking forward to more lawmakers joining the World Dog Alliance’s campaign to initiate the International Agreement to Prohibit the Eating of Dogs and Cats.