Against the decline of animal welfare at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo!

While the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and Rio had shown a modicum of consideration for animal welfare, the Tokyo committee seems to be totally indifferent. To reduce the production costs of eggs, meat and milk for the next "Games", the standards in force will be lowered than those of previous levels for the so-called farm animals! However, the cages and battery stalls are vilified, and the general public is turning away more and more. Who was not stunned once informed of these unbearable practices? But in Japan, as reported byAnimal Rights Centre Japan, there is still a lot of work to be done, education about empathy and caring for animals.

We know that this type of intensive breeding deprives for example pigs of their freedom of movement, even preventing them from turning around or even taking a step ... Sows are subject to breastfeeding, care is not provided or rarely given to their infants, a broad-spectrum of antibiotics are the rule, as for hens called "layers", in tiny cages in which their wings get stuck and where they hurt their claws. They are forced to live in a stressful environment, where pain and suffering are imposed on them. All these animals end their miserable lives to robots, which kill them on the production line, in a system where we deny them any sensitivity from the humans who work there. In Japan, 96% of respondents do not even know what "animal welfare" means, or have ever heard of it! 97% of Japanese do not know that pigs are born and grow in intensive breeding programs ...

On Wednesday, August 1st 2018 Dotsie Bausch, a member of the US cycling team and 2012 Olympic silver medallist, as well as nine other athletes, one from the United States, Canada and New Zealand, sent a letter to the Mayor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike and to the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to request a guarantee that the eggs from chickens and pigs will not come from battery farms for the whole event. Their "Legacy for Animals" campaign, supported by One Voice, is part of the larger "Tokyo Olympic Cruelty" campaign.

"The Olympics is the highlight in the career of a top athlete - the best in the world come together to compete, so the best food is needed," says Dotsie Bausch. In her letter, she provides scientific evidence, facts and examples to argue about the harmful effects of intensive livestock products on the physical and mental health of athletes. The champion is also worried about the image of Tokyo: "If Tokyo is not able to provide quality food, the city will be behind in a world moving forward, towards a better treatment of animal farming."

It is absolutely necessary to make everyone's voice be heard! You can act to raise awareness about the sentience of animals. In Japan, Asia and around the world, sign the petition "Tokyo Olympic Cruelty" by Animal Rights Centre Japan.