In 2021, forty-two owls died within hours after consuming a Japanese-manufactured supplement in which more than one-third of the product consisted of vitamin B6.

A product intended to support animal health instead became a lethal formulation.

This tragedy exposes serious gaps in safety standards, regulatory oversight, and corporate accountability for animal supplements in Japan.

In many countries across Europe and North America, animal supplements and feed products are subject to strict safety regulations and quality control requirements.

In Japan, however, many such products can still be distributed with little oversight—even when they are intended to be ingested by animals.

Without clear safety standards and accountability, preventable tragedies can and do occur.

Animal lives should never be lost because of preventable failures in product safety and regulation.

We call on the Japanese government and responsible companies to:

1. Establish safety standards for animal supplements and pet food.

2.Require scientific safety evaluation before products are sold. 

3. Ensure clear labeling of ingredients and dosage.

4. Prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

 

This owl tragedy is not an isolated case.

In 2019, a racehorse feed product contaminated with a prohibited substance led to 156 racehorses being excluded from official races in Japan.
The product was manufactured by Nichiku Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd.—the same manufacturer involved in the owl supplement incident—raising further concerns about feed manufacturing oversight.

The following testimony explains how this tragedy occurred and why stronger protections for animal life are urgently needed.

 

🎥Detailed Video of the Accident▶️

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have stood up to protect animal lives.
In Japan, there are no clear safety standards for animal supplements or feed. As a result, incidents have occurred where animals lost their lives due to excessive and unsafe ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2021, 42 owls originating from the UK died after ingesting a Japanese-manufactured animal vitamin supplement. This product was modeled after the UK-made “MVS-30” by VIDEX Ltd. However, a labeling error on the original package listed “360gm” instead of the correct “360mg (milligrams).”
Asuka Animal Health Co., Ltd. misinterpreted this as “360g (grams)”—resulting in a Vitamin B6 concentration that was 1,000 times higher than intended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, one-third of the product’s total weight—over 300g per kilogram—was comprised of Vitamin B6, making it a dangerously lethal formulation.

Although I was the one who ordered the supplement, I had no involvement in the formulation. From the start, I had clearly requested that qualified professionals handle the design safely.
I was told that any ingredients unsuitable for owls would be excluded, and I trusted that all components were being properly formulated.

However, in reality, almost no proper nutritional evaluation or safety review was conducted. The ingredients listed on the product label “OWLPROMIX” differed from what was actually produced. This exposed the deeply flawed and careless nature of the manufacturing process.

The president of the manufacturer—Nitchiku Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd., a subsidiary under the Mitsubishi Corporation Group—has admitted these facts. Yet, no corporate accountability has been taken.

Currently in Japan, there are no legal safety standards for animal supplements, and the internal quality control systems of manufacturers and sellers are essentially non-functional.
By contrast, in many countries across Europe and North America, strict safety standards and regulatory frameworks are in place for animal-related products. In Japan, however, such items are treated as “miscellaneous goods”, and can be distributed with virtually no regulation—even when they pose a threat to life.

To change this dangerous reality, we need your voice.

We call for the following actions:
 • The Japanese government must establish legal regulations and safety standards for animal-related products.
 • Companies involved in production must be legally required to implement strict quality control and assume accountability.
 • The Mitsubishi Corporation Group must uphold the ethics of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and ensure thorough preventive measures to avoid recurrence.

🎥Mitsubishi▶️

Even though a fatal supplement was created, no one has been held responsible, and the court failed to fully recognize the truth.
To ensure such a tragedy is never repeated, we ask for your signature.
Even a small voice, when united with others, can move society.

Let us work together to bring Japan’s animal supplement and feed safety standards up to international levels.
Please lend your voice—and help protect the lives of animals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                Shoji Yoshikawa