DOGS & CATS

日本語
With Cats
With Dogs

This page contains articles about dogs and cats.

We would like to follow individuals and organizations involved in cat rescue and dog rescue activities.

We hope to be a pipeline for foreigners living in Japan who wish to become foster parents.

What we want to let foreigners know is that becoming a foster parent in Japan means becoming a permanent owner, not just a temporary parent. If you welcome a dog or cat into your family without understanding this, you will add to the number of new rescued dogs and cats when you return to your home country.

There are cases where elderly individuals who had a dog or cat as family for many years cannot welcome a new dog or cat into their family. This may be due to hesitation based on their age, or because they are turned down by rescue organizations.

We hope to build a system capable of solutions to these issues, but the issues themselves are simple yet extremely challenging.
These solutions require identifying potential issues that may arise after welcoming a new family member, deriving the best solution for each issue individually, and then creating simpler solutions that cover many cases.
(This is because relying solely on solutions for each individual issue may not handle cases that span multiple issues. )

To go to the page of ”Rescue cats” and ”Rescue dogs”, Please click on the ”With Cats” or ”With Dogs” button.

Furthermore, this page will contain lighthearted articles about various animals not just dogs and cats that will be updated as a blog.

Thank you.

This is the story of the first puppy that became my child.

The reason we decided to create a ‘Dogs and Cats’ page on this site is thanks to the dogs who became members of my family. Even without verbal language, we can communicate with them. No, we can actually understand each other.
And while their facial expressions don’t include a specific “smile” category, they express all their emotions -joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure- with their entire bodies.
A friend of mine was involved from the start in founding an organization focused on the keywords “aiming for zero euthanasia” and “additive-free food”. She is also one of the administrators of this site.

My first puppy was a Chihuahua.

I met this little puppy at a small neighborhood pet shop I dropped in on a whim. Several puppies were for sale there. (I can’t remember if there were cats too.)
I’d never been to that pet shop before, but this puppy seemed interested in me. The next day, and the day after that, whenever I visited, this puppy would come up to me with its tail wagging like crazy through the cage.
There was no choice but make this puppy the newest member of our family. I later noticed it was probably friendly with everyone… Of course it was.

She joined our family when she was about two months old. She was still covered with fuzzy puppy fur. Characteristically, she had a short muzzle, and that never changed even as she grew into an adult.

This puppy was very quiet and never barked at strangers.  In fact, he was quite timid. Even when the cockatiel was nearby, the puppy never once tried to play with it using her paws or bite it. Therefore, the cockatiel would always perch on the puppy’s back.

She loved burrowing under the kotatsu(that is “small table with an electric heater underneath and covered by a quilt”), under the table, and under cushions.
Perhaps because she was fearful, she felt safe under something covering like a roof.

Like this picture, she was truly relaxed when she was under a small cushion. The time we lived together was short, but she gave us so much healing. Japanese has the term “A precious animal,” and I believe it’s a wonderful expression. Every pet must be an angel within their own home.

Finally, I would like to see some improvement in the problem in Japan that “euthanasia problem” and “treating them as property damage instead of life.”

Thanks
2022/07/15

Build a society with zero euthanasia of cats.
What is Sakura Cats TNR ?

The goal of the activity is to achieve zero euthanasia of cats.”
This is an activity that the Animal Action Fund is promoting with the cooperation of local governments, organizations, individuals, and veterinarians, in order to eliminate euthanasia of cats.
Organizations(Volunteer groups and individuals) and veterinarians are the main players in this activity, and the goal cannot be achieved without their cooperation.
* “Sakura” is cherry blossom in English and “Neko” is cat in English. This “Sakura Neko” means a cat with ears like cherry blossom petals.

The Animal Action fund believes that spaying and neutering as many cats as possible is the most effective way to eliminate euthanasia  of cats.
Therefore, we are cooperating with local governments, organizations, individuals, and veterinarians nationwide to perform free spaying and neutering for this activity.
The free spaying and neutering activity is an activity to support local governments, organizations and individuals who are trying to solve  the problem of ownerless cats by spaying and neutering(TNR) instead of euthanasia of cats.

Reference: The Animal Action fund – SASKURA NEKO (2022/11/08) [Translate by this site]
https://sakuraneko-tnr.doubutukikin.or.jp

TRN stands for Trap, Neuter, and Return, each of which is described below.

Trap: To capture

  • The cat is caught with care to avoid injury.
  • We attach a notice with contact information, purpose, etc
  • We do not leave the area while setting the cat trap.
  • Once the cat enters the cat trap, the entire cat trap is promptly covered in cloth to relax the cat.

Neuter: spaying and neutering

  • The spayed cats/the neutered cats will decrease the frequency of urine marking, loud meowing during heat and cat fights.
  • It is desirable that spaying or neutering should be done before the first heat.
    This is because early surgery reduces the risk of disease.
  • Make a v-shaped cut at the tip of the cat’s ears as a sign that the cats has been got spaying and neutering.
    (Make easily identifiable v-shaped cut at the tip of the cat’s ears once cats has been got spaying and neutering. This is because we should avoid to capture and to make on incision in the abdomen repeatedly.)
  • Cats are given a general anesthetic for getting spaying and neutering. And there is little risk of bleeding.
  • They are called “Sakura Cats” because their V-shaped cut ears look like cherry blossom petals.
  • Kittens that are not yet ready for getting spaying and neutering may be protected for looking for foster homes.

Return: Return the cat to their original territory.

  • Volunteers will follow after spaying and neutering for half a day to one day.
  • Cats have territories. Returning the cat to their original territory will prevent other new cats from coming in.
  • Forcibly sheltering stray cats can be stressful and cause illness. We will return cats that have the strength to make a living as mature cats to their original territory.
  • Watching and properly feeding the cats whole the community will help to “keep tracking of increases and decreases in the number of cats” and “the  long-term maintenance of breeding restrictions in the long term.”
    (For feeding, we wait for the cat to finish eating and then clean up.)
  • If there are any not-TRNed cats and any new cats, TNR will be conducted as soon as possible.

(In Japanese) ANIMAL ACTION FUND / The steering body for Sakura Cat free spaying and neutering
https://sakuraneko-tnr.doubutukikin.or.jp

(In Japanese) ANIMAL ACTION FUND}
https://www.doubutukikin.or.jp/activity/campaign/story/

Thanks
2022/11/14

Care of Pets in Emergencies

In 2024, shocking news has been coming since New Year’s Day.
On New Year’s Day, the 2024 Noto Peninsula big earthquake occurred, and on 2nd Jan, a collision occurred between a JAL flight and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda Airport.

Pets are also allowed on aircraft. However, pets are generally kept in designated areas.
In the recent Haneda Airport accident, it is reported that two pets were on board the JAL aircraft.
Unfortunately, it was reported that these two pets could not be rescued.
This is very sad, but considering the circumstances of the fire, rescuing the pets may have been extremely difficult.

We believe airlines take great care with the temperature conditions in pet storage areas, as they handle aircraft flying at high altitudes (extreme cold).
Even so, as someone who has a pet as a family member, there is no way I would choose air travel for a journey with my pet.

According to a Sankei Shimbun article, there was a voice saying “Pets should be allowed in the passenger cabin, not the cargo hold.”
Regarding the treatment of pets, we are aware there are significant challenges, such as the diversification of pets, people who are not good with animals, and people with animal allergies.
Even so, we are one who believes that if pets are allowed on board, they should be in the passenger cabin.

For reference, we checked whether any airlines in Japan allow pets to be kept in the passenger cabin and found one airline that does.
Of course, since the pet occupies a seat, there is a fee involved. (It seems to be more expensive than for a human passenger.)
However, there is the following statement in the agreement for traveling with pets.

In case of emergency, pets must be left on board when evacuating.

Airlines instruct passengers not to carry luggage during emergencies to prioritize the speed and safety of evacuation routes.
We understand this for lifeless luggage, but Pets are living creatures with feelings.
Some people might get angry and say it’s absurd to treat humans and animals the same.
Furthermore, cases requiring emergency evacuation of aircraft are very rare, and some people might find this service appealing.

What we would like you to consider is that pets become family members with heart to heart connections. And sometimes, they become the very source of strength to live for that family.
Even in an emergency, we simply cannot imagine that we can leave our precious family pet sitting next to us to die.
In other words, we feel the current service’s treatment of pets is half-hearted.

Considering the situation of airlines worldwide, it’s difficult for any single airline to change the circumstances on this issue.

Therefore, though it may be a faint hope, I would like them to consider the following:
(1) Major global airlines should organize a symposium that treats pets as family members.
(2) Major airlines should take the lead in launching boarding services that treat pets the same as humans.
Of course, we can understand that there are unavoidable limitations such as the types and sizes of pets they can handle.

The next issue to consider is the handling of pets during disasters.
Japan is geographically a region where disasters occur very frequently.
However, there are very few evacuation shelters where people can evacuate with their pets when a disaster occurs.
During disasters, caring for pets becomes a challenge because caring for people is very difficult enough.
Furthermore, there are many challenges to consider in this discussion, including the diversity of pets, people who are not comfortable around animals, people with animal allergies, evacuation locations and seasons, and relief supplies.
For these reasons, I believe the discussion about “Evacuating with Pets” cannot easily find a solution.

However, we would like to suggest a discussion that faces reality is needed.
It is also true that discussions about pet mistreatment and their lives have become more active in recent years.
What I want you to understand is that pets are family members who provide comfort and energy to their families.
During times of high stress such as disasters, pets alleviate both mental and physical stress.

Therefore, we think the first priority should be evacuating pets to a safe place.
We hope the situation where pets must be left behind in disaster-stricken areas can at least be improved.For example, there must be ideas like setting up temporary pet shelters in government office courtyards, cooperation from public health centers, or private sector assistance.

Currently, it is estimated that approximately 10% of all households have pets, making it impossible to ignore their presence.
National and local government councillors, please make this on your agenda.

Reference: AIR LIVE(2024/01/04)
https://airlive.net/emergency/2024/01/04/japan-airlines-has-apologized-after-announcing-that-they-were-unable-to-rescue-two-pets-during-the-tokyo-haneda-accident/

Reference: Japan Pet Food Association (2022 – Results of a nationwide survey on dog and cat breeding）
https://petfood.or.jp/topics/img/221226.pdf

Thanks
2024/01/05