Penalties for abusing animals would be more than doubled, and breeders of dogs and cats required to microchip the animals, according to draft revisions to an animal welfare law that have been released by a nonpartisan group of lawmakers.
The group is headed by House of Councillors lawmaker Hidehisa Otsuji, and approved the draft at a general meeting at the Diet on Wednesday. It aims to submit the revision bill during the ongoing Diet session.
Under the revised law, the statutory penalty for abuse that kills or injures animals would be more than doubled to up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million yen. The draft also would prohibit selling puppies and kittens before they are 56 days old.
The group plans to have the draft passed into law by early June.
The current punishment for animal abuse is a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine up to 2 million yen. The penalty for causing property damage under the Penal Code is up to three years in prison or a fine up to 300,000 yen. Some have said it is strange that the punishment for abusing animals is lighter than that for damaging property, which has sparked debate on lifting the penalty for animal abuse.
The tougher penalties come amid heightened international interest in animal welfare in Japan ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. There has also been a constant stream of online videos showing dogs, cats, hamsters and other animals being abused.
The revised law will obligate cat and dog breeders and others to microchip these animals and register information about the owners and other details.
Owners who purchase registered dogs and cats will be required to report any change of information about these animals. People who already have pets will be obliged to make efforts to microchip their animals. The group decided the new rules will come into force within three years of the law being promulgated.
A previous revision to the law in 2012 stipulated puppies and kittens can be sold only after they turn 56 days old, but as an interim measure, this limit has become 49 days. Some parts of Europe and elsewhere set this this limit at 56 days or more because separating kittens and puppies from their parents when they are too young increases the frequency of problematic behavior when they get older.
At the request of public interest incorporated associations such as the Nihonken Hozonkai and the Akitainu Hozonkai, which called for consideration of traditional breeding methods for the six native breeds of dog designated as natural treasures of Japan -- Akita, Kai, Kishu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and Shiba -- the lawmaker group agreed to make these breeds exempt from the sale restrictions.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
