Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2014
It’s easy to assume that Japan is a country where pet welfare is prioritized to the extreme. Just stroll down the streets of Azabu Juban and you’ll be treated to a parade of tiny dogs dressed as fashionably as their owners, walking past rows of posh pet salons devoted to pampering puppies with massages and aromatherapy.
But there’s a dark side to Japan’s pet boom that’s grimly apparent at its public animal shelters. Many of the animals brought to these shelters end up in a hokenjo—a government-run gas chamber—where they are disposed of, along with stray animals, as a measure of “pest control.” In 2013, The Japan Times reported that over 200,000 cats and dogs were gassed annually in Japan. In 2010, the latest year for which data was available, 82 percent of pets brought to Japan’s public animal shelters were euthanized, including 52,000 dogs. By comparison, 7,000 dogs were euthanized in the U.K. in 2011—less than 6 percent of the 126,000 dogs brought in that year.
Overseas, animal lovers have put increasing pressure on pet shops to put an end to promoting puppies and kittens when so many older animals are already in need of a home. U.S. animal rights organizations such as the ASPCA and the Humane Society have worked to shine a spotlight on inhumane practices among breeders, puppy mills and the pet shop industry, leading many shops there to discontinue sales of cats and dogs.
So if you’re looking to make a four-legged addition to your family, rather than run to the pet shop, consider adopting from one of the many local shelters that offer sanctuary to rescued and abandoned pets until they find permanent, loving homes—like yours.
Lonely Pet (http://lonelypet.jp/) is an adoption service that helps potential owners find rescued or sheltered animals around Japan, from dogs and cats to rabbits and hamsters. A quick search will pull up a directory of animals nearby that are available for adoption.
Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) (www.arkbark.net) is a non-profit organization that has made great efforts in rescuing and sheltering animals rescued from the Tohoku region in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, and still houses animal victims of the disaster. ARK has branches in both Tokyo and its base in Osaka, and all of its animals are fully spayed/neutered and vaccinated.
Chiba Wan (www.chibawan.net) is operated by multiple families that both rescue and foster the animals they take in. The shelter frequently holds adoption events for people to interact with animals, and it has a great reputation in animal rescue, having found homes for 3,500 animals in its ten years of operation.
Save Animals Love Animals (SALA) (www.salanetwork.or.jp) shelters both small and large dogs, many of mixed breeds. Many of SALA’s dogs have been rescued from shut-down pet shops and breeders. SALA is also active in community service, training guide dogs and conducting canine visits to Tokyo nursing homes.
Dog Shelter (www.dogshelter.jp) is a rescue group that goes beyond sheltering and caring for animals. The group ensures that its dogs will transition smoothly into a new adoptive home by training them in staff members’ homes and placing them with foster families—a process beneficial for dogs and humans alike.
Satoya Boshu (www.satoya-boshu.net) is an extensive directory of orphaned dogs and cats from all over Japan looking for permanent homes.
