Guest guest Posted March 30, 2005 Report Share Posted March 30, 2005 - <NMHP > <NMHP > Saturday, March 26, 2005 9:34 PM [NMHP] Digest Number 509 > > > There are 2 messages in this issue. > > Topics in this digest: > > 1. Is Japan pet-friendly? > " NMHPForum " <nmhpforum > 2. Animal welfare in Japan: ANIMAL PEOPLE's complete article > " NMHPForum " <nmhpforum > > > ______________________ > ______________________ > > Message: 1 > Fri, 25 Mar 2005 16:28:21 -0800 > " NMHPForum " <nmhpforum > Is Japan pet-friendly? > > Question from Marti: > I am a teacher who visited Japan 2 summers ago. I was surprised by the > number of people who would not allow pets in their homes. This surprised > me due to the strong Buddhist influence there. Can you shed any light on > this? > > Response from Merritt Clifton: > There are three factors of importance involved. > > The first is that until fairly recently, urban Japanese mostly lived in > paper houses. Paper houses and pets don't mix well. > > The second is that indoor pets make messes. The Japanese emphasis on > cleanliness conflicts with basic animal behavior. > > The third is explained by Elizabeth Oliver, founder of Animal Refuge > Kansai, who came originally from England, but has lived much of her life > in Japan: > > Animal welfare in Japan by Elizabeth Oliver, founder, Animal Refuge > Kansai > > (excerpted from ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002) > > " Visitors to Tokyo who expect to see street dogs, ubiquitous in much of > Asia, may be surprised to see only pampered purebreds. > > Perhaps because Japan is an island, street dogs have never been common > here--although dogs did once enjoy much greater freedom. > Before World War II, dogs were kept primarily by people affluent enough > to have a house and land. They may have been kept as guard > dogs, but were seldom chained and could roam at will. > > Because they were free and were usually greeted by everyone, they tended > to be friendly. Hachiko, for example, an Akita, used to see his master > off at the Shibuya railway station in Tokyo every morning and go back to > the station to greet him on his return in the evening. One day his master > died suddenly, but Hachiko continued to go to the station every day until > he died of old age. The Japanese were so impressed by his devotion and > loyalty that they erected a statue to him, which still stands outside the > Shibuya station. > > A dog like Hachiko could not roam in Tokyo today. People would be > frightened of him, and the hokensho would quickly dispatch him to the > gas chamber. > > Dogs all but disappeared from Japan during the war years, eaten by the > starving people. By the time petkeeping resumed, attitudes had changed. > As part of a zealous campaign to eradicate rabies, chaining became > mandatory. Stray dogs were hunted down and often brutally killed in front > of the public. Many Japanese became dog-phobic. > > To this day some people scream at the sight of a lively dog. Others cross > the road to avoid meeting even a well-behaved dog on a lead. Mothers tell > their children, " Be careful --the dog will bite you! " So children learn > early to fear dogs and to assume that all dogs bite. There is some ironic > truth in this, since prolonged chaining increases canine territoriality, > making dogs more likely to bite. > > [This message contained attachments] > > > > ______________________ > ______________________ > > Message: 2 > Fri, 25 Mar 2005 17:02:14 -0800 > " NMHPForum " <nmhpforum > Animal welfare in Japan: ANIMAL PEOPLE's complete article > > Note from forum moderator: > Below is the complete article from ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2002: > > Animal welfare in Japan by Elizabeth Oliver, founder, Animal Refuge > Kansai > > Visitors to Tokyo who expect to see street dogs, ubiquitous in much of > Asia, may be surprised to see only pampered purebreds. Perhaps because > Japan is an island, street dogs have never been common here--although > dogs did once enjoy much greater freedom. Before World War II, dogs were > kept primarily by people affluent enough to have a house and land. They > may have been kept as guard dogs, but were seldom chained and could roam > at will. Because they were free and were usually greeted by everyone, they > tended to be friendly. Hachiko, for example, an Akita, used to see > his master off at the Shibuya railway station in Tokyo every morning and > go back to the station to greet him on his return in the evening. One day > his master died suddenly, but Hachiko continued to go to the station > every day until he died of old age. The Japanese were so impressed by his > devotion and loyalty that they erected a statue to him, which still > stands outside the Shibuya station. > A dog like Hachiko could not roam in Tokyo today. People would be > frightened of him, and the hokensho would quickly dispatch him to the > gas chamber. > > Dogs all but disappeared from Japan during the war years, eaten by the > starving people. By the time petkeeping resumed, attitudes had changed. > As part of a zealous campaign to eradicate rabies, chaining became > mandatory. Stray dogs were hunted down and often brutally killed in front > of the public. Many Japanese became dog-phobic. > > To this day some people scream at the sight of a lively dog. Others cross > the road to avoid meeting even a well-behaved dog on a lead. Mothers tell > their children, " Be careful --the dog will bite you! " So children learn > early to fear dogs and to assume that all dogs bite. There is some ironic > truth in this, since prolonged chaining increases canine territoriality, > making dogs more likely to bite. > > Pet fads > > As Japan gained affluence, people who abandoned cramped apartments to buy > their own houses tended to want the accessories to go with a house. One > of these accessories was a dog, of whatever breed was currently > fashionable. First-time house owners became first-time dog owners, > knowing very little about how to keep a dog. The resulting breeding fads > were tragic in consequence. The husky boom may have been the worst. > Huskies are totally unsuited to a cramped urban environment; they shed > hair, which hygiene-obsessive Japanese hate; they are hard to train; > and the hot, humid Japanese summers are torture to dogs native to the > Arctic. Huskies soon filled the gas chambers, and the countryside was > full of abandoned huskies and their crosses. Subsequent fads developed > around Golden Retrievers, black Labrador Retrievers, Border Collies, > and Welsh Corgis. > > Japan also became a lucrative market for exotic pets. At one shop in > Osaka, for example, you can buy almost any animal from a pony to a pig > to a civet cat. Even wallabies, eagles, owls, cockatoos, rare > reptiles, and a variety of monkeys are often in stock. The owner was > once prosecuted for selling smuggled baby orangutans. The police > confiscated them and sent them back to Indonesia. The owner was fined a > paltry amount, but continued in business as brazenly as ever. When these > animals are no longer fun, or become unmanageable, they are dumped. > Crocodiles, red-eared slider turtles, raccoons, and mongooses > introduced to Japan as pets are now often accused of damaging the > environment and attacking indigenous species. Yet once exotic animals are > smuggled into Japan, nothing prevents them from being sold. > > The breeding and pet shop business are reputedly controlled by gangsters. > The Kennel Clubs of both Britain and Ireland have warned their members > against exporting to Japan, but rural puppy mills often do, and since > there is no quarantine for animals originating from the U.K., > British-bred dogs can be flown straight in, to fill the cramped cages of > Japanese puppy mills, where they are bred as young and as often as > possible. > > The Japanese retail pet industry makes a profit by selling about 10-20% of > the animals they stock, disposing of the remainder. Kittens and puppies > taken from their mothers at the age of one month are stressed, frequently > fall ill, and often die. If they die after a customer takes them home, > the pet shops will never return the money but may offer another animal as > a replacement. Many animals are sold with forged pedigrees, giving no > indication where the animal was born. > > Some pet shops have cages outside where people may dump their old dog > while purchasing a new puppy. The old dogs are disposed of > as a customer service. If pet shop animals remain unsold, their price is > dropped as they grow, until finally they fill the cage and are also > disposed of, by methods which include being killed on the premises, > being taken to the gas chambers of the hokensho, or being sold to > laboratories. > > No one in charge > > No Japanese government office oversees animal welfare. Pets are under the > jurisdiction of the Department of Health & Hygiene, which collects and > disposes of animals in much the same way as garbage. Dogs are actively > hunted, since they may carry rabies and can bite. The dogcatchers > sometimes put out traps, or if they can corner a dog, will throw a wire > noose around the dog's neck and fling the dog up into a truck with other > dogs. These trucks are seldom air-conditioned, nor are the dogs > separated, so many animals end up badly mauled or dead. > > There are also " dog posts " in some rural areas, where unwanted dogs can > be shoved down a chute into a container below. As the contents of the > container cannot be seen from outside, nobody knows what is inside: > possibly old dogs, puppies, cats or kittens. It is easy to imagine the > carnage that results. > > Some animals never reach the hokensho itself but are sold along the way to > either breeders or labs. Over 73,000 dogs and 13,500 cats per year are > used in experiments. > > Animals who reach the hokensho seldom leave. Some hokensho now operate > Aigo Centers (Love Animal Centers), where puppies are > adopted out, but never adult dogs. > > Impounded dogs are kept from 3-5 days, except for dogs who have bitten > someone, who are quarantined for two weeks of observation. At many > hokensho the killing system is so automated that animals go directly from > the gas chambers into the furnace at the press of a button. No one > verifies that the animals are dead. Gassing is the standard killing > method, but some hokensho still use decompression or electrocution, and > until recently, bludgeoning dogs was common in rural areas. Veterinarians > are employed at the hokensho, but seldom touch the animals, and > certainly never euthanize animals by lethal injection. > > Catching animals, killing them, and disposing of their bodies is > typically done by contract workers, who usually belong to the Burakumin > class, equivalent to the " untouchables " of India. In medieval times, > the Burakumin were considered the lowest of humans, and were called Eta, > which literally means " having four legs. " They lived in separate > villages, could not marry other Japanese, and could only work in > " unclean " trades such as butchering, plumbing, removing night soil, > leather work, prostitution, and undertaking. After Japan opened up to > outside trade in 1868, the old class system was abolished, but the > descendants of Burakumin are still discriminated against. > > Like U.S. Southerners, who speak of " house dogs " and " yard dogs, " the > Japanese differentiate between lap dogs, usually kept inside, and larger > dogs who mostly live outside. Inside dogs are often pampered. Their hair > is tied up in ribbons, and sometimes dyed, they are fed choice snacks, > and they are carried rather than walked. > > The same family may also keep a guard dog, who is chained to a miserable > kennel with no protection from heat or cold, walked minimally, and given > cheap food. Walk along any street in Japan and you see house after house > with chained dogs or dogs locked in tiny cages. Yet their keepers think > they are doing the right thing, and to be told that this is cruel either > shocks or angers them. > > Native Japanese dog breeds, such as the Shiba-inu, Kishu, Kai-ken, > Akita-ken, Ainu-ken and Japanese Spitz, tend to be known for stoicism and > endurance, not surpringly, since they are chained and basically ignored > all their lives. Years of this treatment have bred into these dogs a > dislike of being handled. They cannot relax when cuddled. They are also > more aggressive and territorial than Western breeds, and harder to train. > > Since Japan has no shelters, people wanting to get rid of their pet or > who can no longer keep the animal are faced with a dilemma. It is against > their Buddhist beliefs to kill a living thing, so most would never take > their pet to be euthanized by a veterinarian. Besides, most Japanese > vets refuse to euthanize any animal, even if in pain. If the pet is > taken to the hokensho, the animal will be killed, which is then on the > former petkeeper's conscience. So they abandon the animal, or fall prey > to schemers who offer to take unwanted pets, for a fee, and find them > new homes. The schemers may collect as much as $250 U.S. to accept a cat > or dog--and may then turn around and sell the animals to labs, take them > to the hokensho, or just dump them. > > Many Japanese believe neutering is unnatural. Instead, they dump > unwanted litters of puppies or kittens on mountainsides or along river > banks, sometimes with food that the newborn animals cannot eat. The > abandoners feel they have returned the animals to nature. Most die of > exposure or dehydration, or are killed and eaten by crows. Those who > survive go feral and breed. > >>From dogs to cats > The Japanese are primarily " dog people. " Although cats have long been > kept on farms to hunt mice, their appearance as pets is very recent. As > cats with long tails were considered bad luck, especially black cats with > long tails, people would cut them off. > Over time the preference for short-tailed cats made cats with naturally > short tails the norm. > > Since Japan no longer has many free-roaming dogs, feral cats have taken > over the available habitat. Many are fed, but few of the feeders have > the cats sterilized. Thus the cats proliferate, to the annoyance of > neighbors. Japanese houses are side by side, sometimes only inches apart, > with very small gardens--or none. There is nowhere for a cat to go except > into dangerous places. Some cats fall afoul of the makers of shamisen, a > Japanese musical instrument which is traditionally stringed with catgut. > > In 1973 Japan hastily adopted the present Animal Protection and Control > Law, just before a visit to Japan by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. But > the law was designed to protect people from animals, not the other way > around. It was ineffective, was unknown to many of the authorities who > were supposed to enforce it, and included no definition of cruelty. The > handful of successful prosecutions in the past 30 years have typically won > fines of less than one would get for stealing a bicycle. Amendments > adopted in December 1999 included higher fines, but little else of much > practical use. A revision is due in 2004. Whether an effective updating > can be won depends on the ability of animal welfare groups to win > political influence. > > The Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS), the first humane organization in > Japan, was started circa 1946 by the wife of the then British ambassador, > Lady Gascoigne. It attracted members and supporters among the affluent > foreigners based in Japan, and from Japanese socialites, including > members of the Royal Family. Thus JAWS has always had strong links to the > government--and has tended toward restraint in advocacy. > > A handful of other animal protection groups have offices in Tokyo, but > none run shelters. JAWS for a time had a rescue centre in the Hanshin > area, but it now is closed. Currently the most active organization for > animal welfare in Japan is ALIVE, run by Tokyo activist Fusako Nogami. > Other small groups operate on shoestring budgets from the founders' homes, > often concealing their addresses and telephone numbers from fear that > animals will be dumped on them. > > Veterinarians in Japan, as everywhere, focused until recently on > agriculture. Small animal practice is a specialty of recent origin. Even > today the veterinary curriculum does not include discussion of animal > welfare. > > Due to the high cost of land in Japan, especially in cities, veterinary > clinics are usually small, and many vets practice alone with the help of > their wife, who is typically a veterinary technician. Because land, > buildings, and equipment are all inordinately costly, veterinary fees > are high. Sterilization can cost from $167 to $416 U.S. Routine > vaccinations may cost $50 to $84. The high prices discourage petkeepers > from making frequent veterinary visits. As with human doctors in Japan, > clients rarely question vets about the types of treatment being given. > The lack of a questioning clientele inhibits veterinary progress. > > In recent years the rising profile of service dogs has helped to improve > the image of dogs in general, but even service dogs have difficulty > gaining access to restaurants, shops, hotels, public buildings, and > public transport, where their presence is now widely accepted in the U.S. > and Europe. > > Things are slowly changing, but the transition from viewing pets as > possessions and objects to viewing them as family members has really just > barely begun. > > Note from Merritt Clifton: > The attitudes and conditions that Elizabeth Oliver describes in Japan > today are remarkably similar to the norms of many major U.S. and European > cities during the mid-20th century. The rapid transformation of U.S. and > European treatment of homeless animals in recent years, still underway, > gives hope that Japan too can achieve a rapid turnabout. > [see below.] > > Japanese shelter data > by Yoshiko Seno > " AnimEarth " > > The Japanese dog population is estimated to be 10 million: less than 10% > of the human population, about half of the U.S. dog-to-human ratio. The > total number of licensed dogs was 5,779,482 in 2000, believed to be > 60-to-70% of the population. In Japan 98 self-governing bodies do animal > control under the two applicable national laws and city or prefectural > bylaws. They killed 280,819 dogs in 1999, or about 2.8% to 4% of the > total dog population. This is very similar to the U.S. rate of > dog-killing. However, since we do not have no-kill shelters doing > high-volume > rescue and adoption in Japan, many cities unnecessarily kill young and > healthy animals. In other cities, people have been working hard > to reduce the killing. I have gathered the 2001 animal control data from > the major > cities and prefectures: > > As the numbers are still relatively low compared to those of the U.S., > Japan could become a no-kill nation very quickly, if inspired with the > will to do so. Some cities are already close to the goal. If those > cities could reach it, more might follow. > > [This message contained attachments] > > > > ______________________ > ______________________ > > > > ------ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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