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The following article is from the Japan Times. David and Susan are members of Angels with Fur. I hope that our group can help them with this important work.
The Japan Cat Network, a grassroots animal welfare group in Shiga Prefecture organized and run by David Wybenga and his wife, Susan Roberts, has put out a plea for help with its Hirakata City Project. Initially featured in The Japan Times on Jan. 26 of this year, the network was asked in March to check out a park near the city of Hirakata, located between Osaka and Kyoto.
The situation at Yamada-Ike Koen was dire, utterly shocking. More than 50 cats, in various stages of health and disease, were found roaming the park. There were no signs of a TNR (trap, neuter, release)
program such as Japan Cat Network promotes, and none of the males appeared to be neutered. Two of the park cats were so ill that they had to be taken to a vet immediately.In April, the group trapped 28 cats, most of them female, and had them neutered. More trapping is scheduled for this weekend and the following week. Wybenga calls the project “amazing”, one that he believes has the power “to change public perception in Kansai”. “Of all the projects I’ve been involved
in, this is the one to get behind.”In the meantime, five kittens, then 2 weeks old, were found abandoned in a cardboard box in a park restroom. Two were already dead. Three survived and are thriving and being fed every four hours. This past Monday, four more kittens were found abandoned. One had already died. These kittens and others were all taken in.
“Busy and sleepy,” the Wybengas have their hands full. “Once we finish one round of feeding it’s almost time for the next.” And, with presently 11 kittens on the bottle, the network is out of money and in desperate need of help, but determined to keep the project going.
The group is in need of experienced kitten fosterers, loving adoptive homes, money and milk replacement powder (Esbilac for cats). Also, Wybenga says, “if someone is in the area and wants to
participate more directly, contact me.”Contact info[AT]japancatnet.com by e-mail or check out the group’s homepage at http://www.japancatnet.com.
Esbilac can be sent to:
David Wybenga,
173 Inae,
Hikone, Shiga,
521-1125
Is there any way to stop this insanity?
Care for a Chihuahua with a blue hue?
Or how about a teacup poodle so tiny it will fit into a purse — the canine equivalent of a bonsai?
The Japanese sure do.
Rare dogs are highly prized here, and can set buyers back more than $10,000. But the real problem is what often arrives in the same litter: genetically defective sister and brother puppies born with missing paws or faces lacking eyes and a nose.
Read the full article: Japan, Home of the Cute and Inbred Dog (New York Times)
I find it highly offensive when I hear about animals being sold for thousands of dollars, especially in a country that kills an average of 438 dogs and 658 cats PER DAY. Why is there not better advertising done by the authorities to find homes for these deserving animals? I think this is a serious problem with public education. How could anyone spend $10,000 on a pet when there are millions crying out for homes, and they can be had for free? Is it because they are free that they are not valued? Do people need to spend huge amounts of money in order to distance themselves from the stray animals that they see on the streets? I confess I will never understand this trend. I wish I could find a way to make a positive change in this regard in Japan. The language and cultural barriers make it tricky.
What we need is a Japanese version of “Bob Barker” to come forth and be the voice of animals in Japan. Bob Barker is a famous American game show host who ended every show with a reminder to have pets spayed or neutered to help control the pet population. If we could get a major Japanese artist to speak out regularly on behalf of pets in Japan, perhaps we could start to effect some change in this regard. Does anyone have any connections with major stars in Japan? (Someone like Tamori with a regular show and a big following would be perfect.) Or any better ideas?
Susan Mercer from Heart Tokushima wrote to us to let us know that they are making slow but steady progress with rescuing the dogs in Anan. She sent us pictures of three of the dogs that they have successfully rescued since we published the last post.
Aki
Natsu
Pichin
Please consider helping Heart Tokushima in any way that you can. See the original post for details on how to donate money or items.
We have all heard and seen the stories on puppy mills. Fortunately, many of the larger pet chains in the US have stopped selling dogs and cats and only offer adoption days. Kudos. One such chain in Petsmart. According to their corporate page, they are the largest specialty pet retailer in the US and Canada with 993 stores. While they do not sell cats and dogs, you can still go there to get your kid a small pet like a hamster or a bird. Certainly animal activists might complain, but it can’t be that bad. Who ever heard of a hamster mill? Well, PETA has….
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently sent an undercover investigator into Rainbow World Exotics, a major supplier of small animals for Petsmart. They captured on film the horrific conditions of the animals at the supplier. On the Petsmart corporate homepage they have their statement regarding the footage shot by PETA. They currently have no plans to discontinue using this company as a supplier. However, they do acknowledge that, “The loss of any life is upsetting, and while images of sick pets and death are always difficult to accept, sadly it’s inevitable in nature.” Most people would probably accept the fact that a small rodent dying because it was scooped up by a hawk is in fact, death in nature. However, being stomped on by a company employee is another story.
The video is certainly disturbing, but PETA didn’t create the conditions. They just showed the facts. Be sure to notice the use of Clorox handiwipes as the employee, not vet, operates on the rabbit. Please copy and paste if the link doesn’t work.
What about small animal breeders here in Japan? Did Chirping Charlie come from a budgie mill? Are conditions here any better? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t bet my birdseed on it.
The Japan Times has done a great feature on Japan Cat Network, one of AwF’s greatest supporters.
For anyone who has wandered the streets of Japan, the sight of a woman carrying her designer-clad lapdog will be a familiar one.
Also familiar will be the sight of a dirty, scrawny cat, perhaps covered in bloody sores and missing clumps of fur, running for cover in the nearest nook or cranny.
It doesn’t take an animal lover to realize that cats are widely neglected in Japan, and foreigners here often wonder why that is and what is being done about it.
One of the Angels with Fur members pointed out a new device that is supposed to deter your cat from jumping.
Backyard Cat is a simple, safe & effective training system to teach your cat acceptable jumping behavior.
[...]
Backyard Cat works by disturbing your cat’s balance when attempting to jump. Backyard Cat takes the recreation out of jumping. The entire Backyard Cat device, including the cable, weighs about one pound.
This device is certain to be controversial. Cats don’t generally weigh that much, so forcing them to carry around a one-pound weight seems rather cruel. But others insist that it is better than the alternative of pet cats escaping their backyards and becoming lost or impounded.
The Wired Blog weighs in heavily against this method, but the comments show that not everyone agrees with their take. What do you think?
Susan Mercer, from Heart Tokushima asked Angels with Fur to post the following information.
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Two women in Anan (阿南), Tokushima kept 48 dogs tied up on the side of a mountain. The dogs were in poor health and the conditions that they were being kept in were not humane. The two women, both in their 50s, fed the dogs, but did not clean up their waste or attend to their medical needs. The women have now been asked to leave the property. What will happen to the dogs?
HEART, a nonprofit animal protection organization in Tokushima Prefecture run by Susan Mercer, has been informed of the situation and is trying to deal with this case. On November 26, 2007, HEART members visited the home and were able to take custody of two puppies and one adult dog. The adult dog was given immediate medical attention, and it was found that she had an advanced case of heartworm (filaria). While she received treatment (3 litres of abdominal fluid were drained from her abdomen), she may still have to be euthanized due to the severity of her case. Heartworm is an infectious disease and the dogs who remain in the care of the two women are highly susceptible to contracting it. The women did not inoculate the dogs against heartworm or rabies, despite their obligation to do so under the Rabies Prevention Law.
The women are reportedly reluctant to give up the animals, but HEART is trying to find a way to solve this situation. Since they found out about the problem in November, they have rescued ten dogs and obtained land on which they can shelter the rest of the dogs. Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) has offered to help them construct a building that would be big enough to house so many animals.
HEART needs our help to fix this situation. They are accepting donations of money and/or items and would be very grateful for our immediate help in this matter as the dogs need to be taken out of their current environment and given treatment against heartworm as soon as possible. (Heartworm is highly contagious so the other dogs have a very high chance of having contracted it. However, it is treatable, and the earlier they treat it, the better the chance of recovery.)
Here’s how we can help:
Donating Money
Donations in Japan
Transfer your donation to:
Account name: Anan Dogs Rescue Fund
Account number: 1162690
Bank: Awa Bank, Ihoku branch
Donations from Outside Japan
Send donations to our PayPal account:
susan@heart-tokushima.com
Or send a Japanese money order or international money order
Donating Items
HEART can make use of any of the following items.
dog food, stainless food bowls, blankets, collars, leads, grooming brushes, vinyl poop bags, dog muzzles, bleach, yard brushes, metal buckets, antiseptic soap, sponges, wash clothes, towels
If you can donate any of these items, please call HEART at 088-635-5558 or email susan[AT]heart-tokushima.com to arrange for drop off or pick up.
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Read more about this issue:
I understand the importance of genetic research, but I do wish we could learn about ourselves without inflicting harm on the animal world.
I mean, I understand that it is important for us to learn how to treat human genetic diseases, but when a side product of that research is glow-in-the-dark cats…
And the nature vs. nurture argument certainly bears investigation, but when that leads to fearless mice…
I suppose these are two examples where the animals themselves are not necessarily being harmed, but they still make me feel uneasy.
The Ministry of the Environment reports that 160,000 dogs and 240,000 cats are killed by public authorities every year in Japan (source). That’s an average of 438 dogs and 658 cats killed in Japan EVERY DAY. The majority of the cats that are destroyed are kittens. Cats who copulate have an almost 100% chance of becoming pregnant and a cat can have kittens two to three times per year. Since there is a tendency in Japan not to have cats spayed or neutered, this problem has become outrageously out-of-control.
I’m sure that I am not the only one on this list who gets a sick feeling deep inside hearing these statistics. I hope that we can all work together to try to educate the public about having pets spayed or neutered and being responsible pet owners.
(Japan Cat Network is one organization that is working to solve this problem. Please visit their website for more information. And do consider donating to support their humane trap drive.)
There is a serious situation in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki that needs the help of some animal lovers.
In May 2007, Avi Landau wrote an article for Alien Times about how birds are being trapped in nets at Lake Kasumigaura and left to die. After he wrote that article, he discussed the problem with the city and received some assurances that something would be done about the situation. It is now more than half a year later and when Avi visited the lake yesterday, he found that nothing has been done. Beautiful owls, hawks, egrets, and herons are stuck in the nets and have been left to die there.
Read the full article: Save the Birds
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