Animal Shelter ARK Celebrates Publication

Every week, the photos of cats and dogs seeking homes are presented in the Japan Times in collaboration with and in support of the nonprofit organization Animal Refuge Kansai. This week, ARK is anticipating the publication of its full-color photo collection “Rescue! Elizabeth Oliver’s Animal Refuge.” (Japanese title: エリザベス・オリバーの動物シェルター)

Book-signings with shelter founder Elizabeth Oliver will be held in Tokyo on Nov. 16 and in Osaka’s Umeda Kinokuniya on Nov. 22.

A full-color, 128-page, B5-size photo collection, “Rescue!” features photos by professional photographer Kyoko Harada and includes the history of ARK, an interview with Oliver and, most of all, beautiful photographs and introductions of many of the animals that live or have lived at the shelter.

“All the animals pictured in this book have come to ARK from sad backgrounds; abandoned, stray, thrown away, given up, abused,” a passage from the book reads. “But look at these animals now; relaxed, healthy and loving. They are the lucky ones.”

In addition to its rehoming activities ARK seeks to raise awareness of animal welfare in Japan and promote what it calls the “Five Freedoms” for animals: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom to express normal behavior and freedom from fear and distress.

Though founded by a non-Japanese and the first Japanese organization to become an International Associate of the RSPCA (England’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), ARK strives to work hand in hand with Japanese and Japan’s authorities to bring about change. Oliver, in an excerpt from the book, says, “Rather than criticizing local governments, individuals, and organziations, ARK hopes that they will, by seeing ARK’s methods and facilities, change to treat animals more humanely.”

“Rescue!” will be available in bookstores from Nov. 7 and through Amazon the following day. However, ARK is asking supporters to further help the animals’ cause and hold off purchases until the week of Nov. 16 or to reserve a copy of the book through ARK’s Tokyo branch. The reason for the at-first-seemingly unusual request is that, if 300 books are sold at Tokyo’s Kinokuniya bookstore that week, the book has a good chance of being put on the store’s “Best-selling List”. This list is picked up by stores around Japan, meaning “Rescue!” will go to local stores nationwide, a huge boon to the
organization’s work.

‘‘Rescue!’’ a photo collection to be published on November 7 by Animal Refuge Kansai, features one of the shelter’s former animals, Yuu, an abused dog who is now preparing for a new life in England. The shelter’s founder, Elizabeth Oliver, and friends are seen on the book’s promotional sleeve.

This article was originally published in the Japan Times on Saturday, November 1, 2008.

Nathan Winograd and No-Kill Shelters

Nathan Winograd is an advocate of no-kill shelters who is spearheading a revolution in the way that pet advocacy groups think and operate.

If you think of animal-rights activists as rabid, Nathan Winograd disappoints. A cat person in fact, he’s also a cat person in personal style: unobtrusive in appearance, measured in his gestures, fastidious in his quotes. Make no mistake, however: he wants a revolution, and he wants it now.

His cause is pets—“companion animals,” to give them the dignified title he feels they deserve. Winograd, JD ’95, believes that if the public knew that the leading killer of healthy dogs and cats in this country is the system of shelters charged with protecting them, the public would be horrified. And he believes that if people understood that these deaths were unnecessary, he would have his revolution tomorrow.

Through his No Kill Advocacy Center and his recent book, Redemption: The Myth of Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America (Almaden Books), Winograd works to redirect animal shelters to ensure that animals are adopted, not killed. The cornerstone of his approach: stop blaming the public for abandoning and mistreating animals, and make it easy for people to do the right thing.

Read the full article on the Stanford Magazine site.

Daruma-san Ga Koronda

In Japan, there is a game that kids play called “Daruma-san ga koronda”. The game features one person who is “it” and that person turns her back on all the other players who are waiting in a line (all facing her) a few meters away from her. The “it” girl says “Daruma-san ga koronda!!” and the line of kids starts to advance. After she yells the words (quickly or slowly for dramatic effect, as she prefers), she quickly turns around and everybody has to freeze. The point of the game is to get to the “it” girl without her seeing you move.

The following video is of a kitty called “Moire” who seems to have a good grasp of the rules of this game.

Here is the original post on the More Moire website.

“Daruma” means dharma doll and “” means “the dharma doll fell down”. You can read more about daruma on Wikipedia.

Ten Promises Between Me and My Dog

There is a new movie out in Japan called 「犬と私の１０の約束」 (roughly translated as Ten Promises Between Me and My Dog). The movie is based on the Ten Commandments of Dog Ownership by Stan Rawlinson, which are as follows.

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Regular separation from you will be painful and can even cause depression. Think before you buy me.

2. Give me time to understand what you want from me don’t be impatient, short-tempered or irritable.

3. Place your trust in me and I will always trust you back, respect is earned not given as some sort of inalienable right.

4. Don’t be angry with me for long, and don’t lock me up as punishment. I am not capable of understanding why I am being locked up. I only know I have been rejected. You have your work, entertainment and friends. I only have you.

5. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your tone. “You only have to look at my tail” to know that.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget, if that treatment is unjust or bad, it may spoil the special bond between us.

7. Please do not hit me. I cannot hit back, but I can bite and scratch and I don’t ever want to feel the need to do that.

8. Before you tell me off me for being uncooperative, obstinate, or lazy, ask yourself if something might be wrong with me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food or I’ve been out in the sun too long, maybe my heart is getting old and weak, or maybe I’m just dog-tired.

9. Take care of me when I get old. You too will grow old and will also want care, love, and affection.

10. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say, “I can’t bear to watch” or “Let it happen in my absence”. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember, Irrespective of what you do I will always love you.

The movie, in 40 words or less: Fourteen-year-old Akari, who lives in Hokkaido, gets a dog and names him Socks. Akari’s mother tells her about the ten commandments of owning a dog. Akari and Socks grow up together.

(The 10 Commandments From a Dog’s Point of View: © Stan Rawlinson 1998)

Book: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation

Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America is the last book in a long, long time that I couldn’t put down. It starts with a short history of the movement in the US to stop animal abuse in the mid 1800’s. Then it moves through how the organizations which we entrust with animal welfare have come to a conclusion. The conclusion is that there are too many cats and dogs, far more than people could ever want as pets and so most of them must be killed. According to the author the number of cats and dogs killed annually by animal shelters in the US has reached 5 million.

Nathan J. Winograd, a lawyer, and animal shelter director in US, challenges many of the assumptions held by shelter directors and staff in the United States. He built on the achievements of others to develop
a way of sheltering that says healthy cats and dogs do not have to be killed for lack of space. In short, he does it by first unplugging from the cushy million dollar contracts to kill animals on behalf of the city and country. Then to develop high volume/low cost and free spay neuter programs, stop euthanizing feral cats, start TNR programs, expand adoption and fostering programs, capitalize on volunteers, and build a staff that believes the public are an asset not a liability.

Winograd has many critics and detractors. If you believe him, the major organizations have used propaganda to undermine his credibility and distort his results. I had many questions as I read through this. Still I found it challenging and inspiring. I’d recommend it for anyone interested in any way with animal welfare.

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain

The above is a new book to be published in March 2008. Written by Martha Sherrill, it tells the story of Morie Sawataishi and his life long devotion to saving the Akita dog. By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, there were only 16 Akitas left in the country. They were used by the military as either food or fur to line the vests of military jackets. It became Morie’s passion to save these dogs from an almost certain extinction. Today, Morie is 94 years old an still lives with his Akitas. According to the review in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of The Bark,

“In the old days of Japan, honoring the specific look or ‘breed’ was never part of the dog tradition. Spirit was the thing one hoped to keep alive.” Dog Man is a celebration of a man with spirit to spare, and of the dogs who marked and enriched his life.

Barnes and Noble offers a more in depth review here.

The book is available for preorders from Amazon Japan.

Must Watch: Animal Games

Hi, all. I’ve just noticed this listing in today’s TV log. Sorry this is such short notice, but maybe some of you will be able to see or tape this terrific BBC animal program at noon today on the Animal Planet channel. (It has also popped up on other channels.)

“Animal Games” is a (simulated) Olympic Games for the animal kingdom. They have animals from five different groups — the Mammals, the “Herpetiles”, the Birds, the Fish, the Insects) competing in five or six different events (long jump, high jump, weight-lifting, etc.) on an even basis.

The “even basis” is arrived at by using a fixed measure for human height and the highest level (for example, 10 meters) ever attained by a human in that event. Then they scale up or scale down the challenge to the individual animal. For example, a human’s greatest weight-lift achievement was something like 544 lbs, so the challenger for the stag beetle was 544,000 lbs!

The graphics are outstanding; everything looks so real! And the sports results — reported by two excited announcers in typical sports style, with background info as well — are really astounding.

By all means, try to catch and/or tape this show! It’s really sensational!

(If you miss the show, you might be able to order it from the BBC website, but I am not sure about whether they will ship to Japan, or whether you would be able to watch it on your Japanese DVD.)

Do You Speak Cat?

Original

Translation

Hamster Meets Broccoli

A 13-day old hamster named Mocha meets broccoli for the first time. Be sure to watch his feet.

More videos from the same hamster owner available here.

You Oughta Watch Some Otters

We don’t really have a category for otters on this site, but we try not to exclude animals of any persuasion. This video is just really heartwarming, so I thought I would share it with you on a lazy Saturday morning. (Not much happens, so don’t expect car chases or even scene changes.)