THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
June 28, 2018 at 07:10 JST
Police in Tokyo confiscated traps, burners and pans used to abuse cats. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Animal rights advocates alarmed at sickening online video footage of cruelty to animals are calling for tighter relations as there is no law against such posts or ways to prevent encouraging comments from depraved individuals.
Recent posts include one of a caged cat immersed in a tub of water bubbling with a cleaning agent, and another of a feline being stamped on.
Unwitting viewers have developed post-traumatic stress disorder after clicking on footage posted by self-proclaimed "animal abuse lovers," according to animal welfare experts.
New footage usually results in a flood of comments, for example, “Why don't you put the cat in water in a pot and then boil it?” and “I have just burned the pads on all its paws and the cat is whimpering loudly.”
A particularly nauseating post can generate 1,000 or so comments within a few days. Some are full of admiration, calling the footage “divine” and “artistic.”
Akiko Fujimura, representative director of the Nippon Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, harbors a sense of crisis over the inhumanity to pets that the posts seem to revel in.
“Even children can easily access this offensive material on their smartphones,” she said. “Some people have experienced PTSD after viewing such footage."
Whenever Fujimura comes across offensive footage, she contacts the police or the operators of the bulletin boards.
Although site operators voluntarily delete footage in many cases, new videos are quickly posted. Fujimura calls this “a cat-and-mouse game.”
She voiced concern that people who watch such footage “may imitate what is done in them just for entertainment.”
A resident of Saitama Prefecture close to Tokyo said he began treating cats in a cruel manner after he was bitten by a cat and watched animal abuse footage online.
The man admitted to killing and injuring cats by setting them on fire or pouring boiling water over them. He uploaded video footage of his actions online. He was handed a suspended sentence for violating the Law on Welfare and Management of Animals last year.
The man said in his trial that he felt encouraged to abuse cats after reading online comments exhorting him to “Do more!”
NO BAR ON ONLINE POSTS
The animal welfare and management law imposes a maximum prison term of two years or a fine of up to 2 million yen ($18,100) on those who kill or injure dogs, cats and other pet animals without reason.
The National Police Agency reported 68 cases of suspected violations of the law last year involving 76 people, the largest numbers since tallies of such offenses under current methods started in 2010.
A multipartisan group of lawmakers is working on revisions to the law to introduce harsher penalties for animal abuse.
However, individuals who simply upload and spread videos online are not covered by the current law or the amendment.
An investigative source with the Osaka prefectural police explained the difficulty police have in arresting violators.
“The footage often does not show who--the person who uploaded it or someone else--is abusing animals,” the source said. “That makes it difficult to identify the abuser.”
Matters are further complicated by the fact that animal abuse videos are not included in the list of the Safer Internet Association comprising Yahoo Japan Corp. and other online service providers of materials to be deleted based on requests from Internet users.
This is because such footage is not ranked as “illegal material” like child pornography and information on illicit drugs or as “harmful data,” like images of corpses.
An association official said “animal abuse footage could be added to the list if calls grow for such a regulation.” The association received 100 reports on images showing cruelty to animals in April alone.
Lawyer Katsuhiro Ueda, a member of the Osaka Bar Association who is well-versed in animal rights issues, said tighter regulations on animal abuse footage are long overdue.
“How to handle videos showing animal abuse depends on the service providers or site operators, which effectively means offenders are free to do what they want,” Ueda said. “The reposting of such videos is an antisocial act that publicizes crimes by other people. It can never be justified, even under the principle of freedom of expression.”
“New restrictions are urgently needed against posting offensive images that could inspire other people to commit similar crimes."
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The page features videos of variety of animals. You can view the videos as interactive images that allows you to pan and zoom in to them.
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