In Japan more than 10 million experimental animals are used in a year.(This number is comparable to the total in EU.) But since there are no legal regulations for protecting experimental animals, it is completely free for any persons to do animal testing no matter when, where and how.
The Animal Protection law in Japan has only one clause for experimental animals. This clause for 3Rs (Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) was added to the law only recently in 2005.But due to no registration system for animal experiments, we cannot know any basic information such as exact number of animals used, kinds of tests used for and locations of feeding facilities.
People for animal welfare, animal rights in Japan have urged the Japanese government and Diet members to improve the law over several decades. But due to the resistance of related organizations such as academic societies or industry groups, it has not succeeded yet.
In 2012 the 3rd major revision of the Animal Protection law is planned. We urge the Japanese government to include the following terms in the law.
1. Introduction of a registration system for experimental animals feeding facilities.
2. Placement of veterinarians in animal experiment facilities and participation of the citizens in animal experiment committee.
3. Improvement of the expression for 3Rs(Refinement, Reduction and Replacement) following international standards such as OIE code or EU Directive.
4. Establishment of the bureau for promoting 3Rs.
5. Clarification of the definition so that this law not only concerns about how to keep "experimental animals" but also requests the humane manner of "animal experiments".
Please tell the Japan's authorities to include our petition terms in the law.
http://homepage2.nifty.com/jikken-houseido/authorities.htm
Thank you for your help.
