Folk are looking at this with their "British heads "on. Britain is a nation (generally) of animal lovers. Not so in other countries.
take Spain for example. They buy puppies and then when they are no longer lovable or it comes to the summer holidays they are abandoned (often out of moving vehicles - I kid you not). We believe that the religious beliefs held here have animals as not having souls. Might be wrong on that, but that is how we explain away the behaviour. Don't forget it wasn't that long ago that they threw live donkeys off towers to celebrate something or other.
Why should the Japanese nation be any different? They eat whales which a lot of Brits might find offensive. perhaps they reat animals differently from us Brits? perhaps they were too busy fleeing the water!
As to the warning level 7. How strange that the scale stops there. Suerly there ought to be further levels including the highest which culminates in the total destruction of all mankind , say level 666?