The Diet passed a bill Wednesday allowing authorities to close down pet shops that mistreat their animals.

Pet shops will have to register with authorities, a change from the present requirement that they only report their operation to authorities.

If a shop fails to meet Environment Ministry standards for the facility and other conditions for keeping animals, governors can refuse or retract the registration.

The revision to the animal protection law is expected to take effect within a year.

Experts have said many pet shops display animals in narrow cages, and there have been growing complaints from consumers that they had purchased unhealthy animals.

Under the revised law, every pet shop will have to assign at least one employee, who has attended training sessions, to be specifically in charge of animal treatment.

The revision raises the maximum fine for mistreating or abandoning pets to 500,000 yen, up from 300,000 yen.

It requires people breeding animals that could be harmful to humans to obtain permission from a national authority and to attach an identification device to their pets.

It also sets three principles on the use of animals for experiments — that their pain should be alleviated, that their numbers should be reduced and that alternative methods of experimentation should be sought.