12.How many vegetarians are there in the world?
Unfortunately, we were not able to find the solid information about how many vegetarians are in the world. However, we could get some survey reports including the number of vegetarians in the U.S.. According to the data, there are at least 7.3 million adult vegetarians in the U.S. in 2009.
14.Does the Japanese government take necessary measures to protect animals' welfare ?
As of 2014, there is a strong law which are related to animal rights/welfare in Japan. It is called "Act on Welfare and Management of Animals (In Japanese "動物愛護法")". These days, people in Japan are being more and more interested in animal rights, so the development of this law has enthusiastically been promoted.
The Article 1 of this law is shown below.
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Article 1 The purpose of this Act is to engender a spirit for animal welfare among citizens and contribute to the development of a respect for life and sentiments of amity and peace by providing for the prevention of cruelty to animals, the proper handling of animals and other matters concerning animal welfare, as well as to prevent animals from causing an infringement on the life, body or property of humans by providing for matters concerning the management of animals.
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--Reference--
"Vegetarian Journal 2009 Issue 4." Issue 4 2009. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014.
<http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2009issue4/2009_issue4_2009_poll.php>.
"The Number of Vegetarians Around The World." The Number of Vegetarians Around The World. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. <http://www.raw-food-health.net/NumberOfVegetarians.html>.
"動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律." 動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. <http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/S48/S48HO105.html>.
"日本法令外国語訳データベースシステム - [法令本文表示] - 動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律." 日本法令外国語訳データベースシステム - [法令本文表
示] - 動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. <http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/law/detail/?id=61&vm=04&re=02>.
It is very difficult to get precise information about the number of vegetarians in the world because although the dictionary definition of "vegetarian" is quite clear, the range of people who self-identify as being vegetarian is much broader. It's trendy now in the States to call yourself a vegetarian even if you are just _mostly_ vegetarian and make some exceptions for chicken and fish. Some people, inexplicably, don't consider chicken and fish to be animals. So, I was very pleased to see that you used the Vegetarian Resource Group's (VRC's) data. They conducted survey research that was careful in that they asked people exactly what they ate and how often...not whether or not they considered themselves to be vegetarian. Therefore, I think their data is the most trustworthy. It only applies to the situation in the US though.
ReplyDeleteAs for your answer to the question about whether the Japanese government takes any specific actions to protect animals, I would want to know more about it. For example...
* What sorts of treatment would be considered animal cruelty?
* Are farm animals excepted, as they are from most animal cruelty legislation the US?
* Are the laws actually enforced?
* Who enforces them?
* Is there any serious penalty for those who violate the law?
What you wrote about the law (article 1) in your blog is only a paragraph of pretty words. Words that don't have any bite to them are meaningless.
Cheers,
Joseph D.
I think there are not many vegetarians in Japan.
ReplyDeleteThis is because I have never seen Japanese vegetarians.