A pet's life in Japan - unloved, abandoned, destroyed.
Revised law designed to give pets better lives
By TARO KARASAKI and JUN SAITO
Asahi Evening News Dec 09, 1999 http://www.asahi.com/english/
The 4-year-old golden retriever gazes sadly from the glass-walled pen like a death row inmate.
And then, as if finally realizing that this is no reprieve, that the visitor is not there to claim him, he barks angrily and begins pacing-frantically
bumping into the other five dogs in the cell.
``Either the owner has been looking in all the wrong places. Or maybe the owner just isn't looking at all,'' said Miwako Fujisawa, an official at
the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Animal Protection and Consultation Center in Setagaya Ward, a pound for stray and disowned dogs and cats.
The retriever was taken into custody by center officials in a Setagaya neighborhood a week earlier after residents complained that a stray was
roaming their streets.
The six dogs-the retriever, a black cocker spaniel, a beagle and three mixed-breed dogs, all inmates in cell #6-are at the end of a seven day
grace period during which they can be claimed.
Fujisawa said the retriever and spaniel-both popular dogs and in good health-may get stays of execution, but not more than a few weeks. If
they cannot find new owners for the pair, they will likely be destroyed by gassing, just like the other four dogs in the pen.
Unfortunately, the scene is a familiar one at animal protection centers across the nation.
In 1997, about 400,000 dogs and 300,000 cats were destroyed at centers operated by prefectural governments, according to government statistics.
Most were caught by public health officials, but many were turned in by their owners-knowing full well they were condemning their pets. In 1998,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Government took in 18,706 dogs and cats and destroyed more than 15,000 animals.
Mistreatment of animals in this country is one result of a consumer mentality that worships brand names, many believe.
Shigeki Mori, director of Tokyo-based Japan Pet Kyosaikai, a pet welfare organization, said, ``Many people buy pets as casually as they might buy a
name-brand coat. Animals are only objects to these people and they feel they have no responsibility for their welfare.''
Hoping to save animals from deaths caused by the negligence of irresponsible owners, a group of lawmakers, backed by many animal rights groups, are
trying to pass a bill revising the Law on Protection and Keeping of Animals.
The bill was to be presented to the Lower House today. The bill is expected to pass.
This move comes as Japan is experiencing a ``pet boom.'' According to the Japan Pet Food Manufacturers Association, 10.4 million dogs and 8.4 million
cats were kept as pets in 1997, compared to 9.06 million dogs and 7.17 million cats in 1994.
And while foreign words such as animal partners and companions have entered the Japanese language offering pets a higher standing in the family, these
words are, in many cases, simply rhetoric-examples of appalling animal abuse are still rampant in this country.
In July this year, police in Chiyoda, Saga Prefecture, questioned a man in his 20s who was suspected of dragging a puppy down a road with his truck.
Later the same month, a pet shop in Osaka's Kita Ward was investigated by police on suspicion of smuggling 12 orangutans, half of which were believed
to have died in captivity at the store.
And recently, not only dogs and cats, but imported ``exotic'' animals including monkeys, prairie dogs, ferrets, iguanas and large snakes, are
among the creatures irresponsible pet owners are purchasing on a whim and then discarding when unwanted.
More and more, police stations and zoos across the nation are having to take in unconventional pet animals like these after they have been found on the
loose.
According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, there were 86 cases in 1998 in which police rounded up 18 kinds of animals.
``As long as there are people who want these exotic animals, it can't be helped,'' shrugged Hidemitsu Morii, owner of an Ota Ward, Tokyo, pet shop
that deals with exotics such as squirrel monkeys from Latin America, North American ferrets, and iguanas.
Morii has sold about 100 ferrets last year, with prices ranging from 37,000 yen to 60,000 yen depending on the color and species.
But ferrets have recently lost some of their luster. Today, the hot item is the squirrel monkey. Priced between 180,000 yen and 250,000 yen, Morii said
he sells at least two a month.
``People want different animals from cats and dogs, which are everywhere,'' he explained.
While acquisitive pet consumers may be on the cutting edge, the concept of animal protection has lagged.
``Japan is still far behind in terms of laws on protecting animals,'' said Mitsuaki Shiotsubo, secretary general of a network of animal rights groups
seeking passage of the revision to the animal protection law.
The current law lacks teeth to combat the arbitrary handling of animals, he said.
``While the law does state that animals should not be subjected to unnecessary killing, injury or pain, there are no specifics on what acts
constitute such outlawed behavior,'' Shiotsubo said.
The law also fails to spell out responsibilities of owners and animal dealers and has weak penalties for abuses, he said.
The law has only a maximum 30,000 yen penalty for violators who abandon or abuse animals. The revision calls for stricter penalties, including
possible imprisonment for up to one year, or fines of up to 1 million yen in the case of abuse resulting in death.
The revised law also makes it mandatory for pet shops to register with local governments.
But some animal rights groups say the revision is not enough.
In many European countries, similar animal protection laws have existed for decades.
In Germany, the law states explicitly that human beings are responsible for the protection of the lives and livelihood of animals. Violation of the
law, which includes specifics on abuse and abandonment, can result in prison sentences of up to two years.
In Japan, the pet boom, and its concurrent disrespect for animal life, seems to correspond with a consumer ``brand name'' mentality.
Yoshihiro Hayashi, Dean of the Graduate School of Agricultural Life Science, at the University of Tokyo sees a disturbing trend.
``Many people are just followers, they just want what other people have or want to have,'' he said.
``Pets have become a brand name consumer product, existing only to satisfy the vanity of their owners.''
In the late 1980s, Japanese consumers, enjoying a new affluence with a stronger yen, were drawn to famous foreign designer products. This
phenomenon is known as the brand-oriented mentality.
``To buy something that is considered fashionable and rare fulfills the desire to be perceived as different, and of the chosen few,'' said Yutsuko
Chusonji, a trendwatcher and illustrator.
She believes pets have fallen into the same category as a Chanel handbag. ``When a particular product or an animal becomes common, its
usefulness is at an end. In the case of the handbag, it can be tossed in the closet. But you can't do that with a dog or any other animal.''
``I'd like to see people take long-term responsibility for their pets, Chusonji said.
The illustrator practices what she preaches. The owner of a golden retriever, she bought the dog eight
years ago before the breed became a much sought fashion item. While golden
retrievers may be a bit passé now, she continues to love and care for it all
the same.
Morii, the pet shop owner, prefers to think the best of his customers. ``While there are a few irresponsible people, most of our customers have
experience, and actually do take care of their animals.'' Morii said a large number of people actually consider their exotic animals ``part of the
family.''
Many pet owners are good, some are bad, but all ``Japanese need to recall their symbiotic relationship with animals,'' said Hayashi of University of
Tokyo. That sense existed before the nation plunged into a mass consumer society
to catch up with Western countries, he said.
Another expert, Yasuhiko Aida, chief manager of Japan Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals, looks to the past for answers to present
problems. ``In old times, people were living in the flat lands while animals inhabited forests and mountainous areas. Compared with Westerners,
the Japanese had less experience in dealing with wild animals.''
``We have only about a 30-year history in keeping animals as pets,'' he said.
For centuries, Japanese adhered to the idea of compassion and the prohibition against destroying natural lives, a philosophy derived from
Buddhism.
In 1685 Tokugawa Tsunayoshi promulgated edicts - the Shorui Awaremi no Rei -
requiring compassion for all living things. These prohibited the killing or abandonment of
animals - particularly dogs.
These rules for the living were rescinded after the shogun's death in 1709 as being too strict and unreasonable.
``Getting along with animals has long been common sense for many Japanese,''
Hayashi deplored, adding, ``that's why we did not need strict rules over the treatment of animals.''
Copyright1999 Asahi Shimbun.
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