Low-cost sterilization of dogs, cats curbs killing of strays

Consequently, in June, the government will implement a legal revision to the cruelty to animals law to make it mandatory that cats and dogs are fitted with microchips containing their owner's details.

About damn time! Far too often, down here, people buy a pet for their kids, like at Christmas time, without realizing the lifelong commitment that they need to make, and end up tossing it away.

Sometimes I feel like "owners" like these need to be chipped too,

The revision of the law will probably have no effect because there will probably be no enforcement or penalty. Currently the law states a maximum of five years imprisonment for animal cruelty, but the police refuse to investigate. They will take action only if provided with a video of, for example, someone actually killing a cat, and that person being clearly recognisable in the video.

More low-cost neutering is needed. In my area in the countryside the city used to donate ¥5,000 towards neutering but no longer does so instead giving more than 5,000 to hunters for each deer or wild boar they kill.

How about closing all these breeding facilities too. So people can adopt a stray cat instead buying one.

Good idea to have inexpensive ways to spay/neuter cats. Most of the cats that come to our back yard are strays that come because they were abandoned by their former owners or born on the street. One cat ultimately had three litters in or next to our back yard, until we were able to catch her and have her fixed. As soon as they were old enough, we fixed the kittens that stayed as well.

Fortunately for us, there's an organization here in Columbus OH that does the job for around $40 per cat and will also give them their vaccinations as well. Too many people may also just have the female fixed but ignore the male because "they won't come home pregnant". Just because it won't be your problem, don't mean it won't become the neighborhood's problem.

When I mentioned to some Japanese coworkers that I had my female cat sterilized, they treated me like some arch animal abuser. “That’s so cruel, stripping her of her ability be a mother cat!”. WTF?!

Dio

How about closing all these breeding facilities too. So people can adopt a stray cat instead buying one.

The first step would be to prohibit the sale of animals in pet supply stores and home centers, like what has been done in some other countries.

I hate seeing those beautiful animals in those tiny glass prison cells when I go to those stores. It's borderline barbaric.

Agree with all comments here....and to expand on "Gary Pen " above......my heart nearly broke seeing a Labrador puppy in a pet store, no one buying it despite price reduction and the dog growing out of the "cute puppy stage " into a young adult dog.

We have a dog already and wife sensibly vetoed ownership of a young dog.

At the other "good " end of the scale are a cat rehoming group that interviews prospective adoptive owners before releasing a desexxed cat to a new home.

Yubaru

Sometimes I feel like "owners" like these need to be chipped too,

Did you mean to say "snipped"?

"Chipped" is just placing an ID microchip under the skin.

David Brent

When I mentioned to some Japanese coworkers that I had my female cat sterilized, they treated me like some arch animal abuser. “That’s so cruel, stripping her of her ability be a mother cat!”. WTF?!

Don't ever tell anyone here about having a pet euthanized to end the poor sick animal's suffering. They'll look at you like you murdered a healthy thriving baby. And, good luck finding a JP vet to do it, if you ever need it done.

I think the negative ratings are evidence of just how backwards and ignorant people here are about animals and pets.

Also stop showing all these TV shows where animals are objectified and only thought of as cute. Start showing some real shows about abandonment, abuse, puppy mills, hoarding and other not so cute topics. I saw a documentary where animal abuse and murder is seriously investigated by the police in the UK because there's a potential to escalate and commit crimes on children or humans in general.

dbsaiya

Also stop showing all these TV shows where animals are objectified and only thought of as cute. Start showing some real shows about abandonment, abuse, puppy mills, hoarding and other not so cute topics

The show that replaced Shimura Zoo (I Love Animals, I think it's called) always has segments about adopting and rescuing animals. And, I recently saw a show on NHK that promoted adopting rescue animals, showing many available dogs, and how they are just as cute and loving as any store bought "pure breed".

I also once saw a piece on NHK that showed the awful conditions and treatment of puppy mill/puppy farm dogs bound for pet shops. So, they do promote adoption on TV here, to some extent.

And, in our and surrounding neighborhoods, a number of our dog friends rescued their animals rather than buying them from a store or breeder. So, the culture may be changing little by little.

Our two dogs are both rescues. The older one was adopted back in California. But, we recently rescued a former puppy mill Golden Retriever here in Japan that was unceremoniously dumped at a shelter by the breeder after they decided she no longer had any value to their business at six years old. Judging from the condition of her body, she had recently had a litter of puppies, too. And, the breeder just dumped her immediately after weening. I never want a yen of my money going to any of those sorts of bastards.

Like every thing else in Japan it costs you and arm and a leg to even give out gas. our cat cost us 15,000 jpy to get sterilized but I know other paid even more depending on which scammer you go to.

Mark

Like every thing else in Japan it costs you and arm and a leg to even give out gas. our cat cost us 15,000 jpy to get sterilized but I know other paid even more depending on which scammer you go to.

That's not expensive at all for a spay/neuter from a legitimate vet. It'll cost more in many parts of the US.

Our JP vet is wayyyyyyy cheaper than our US vet was, by orders of magnitude.

Tough luck for the shamisen maker, but great to reduce cruelty.

And then we have the mentally unbalanced cat ladies in Japan who feed the wild cats thereby multiplying their numbers. Stray cats end up fouling local parks where kids play. And of the course the cats are in the park after being dumped by their owners when the novelty wears off with Fluffy. Pet ownership is strongly linked to mental deficiencies and cruelty. Pet owners need to be regulated for their own benefit and the rest of society and of course for the animal's sake as well. The article indicates one owner had a hundred cats.

Inagaki operated on more than 100 animals in one case involving a cat owner.

When I mentioned to some Japanese coworkers that I had my female cat sterilized, they treated me like some arch animal abuser. “That’s so cruel, stripping her of her ability be a mother cat!”. WTF?!

I have no idea where you live but it sounds ludicrous as just about everyone who has ever put a bag of garbage out knows about "cats" and the problems they cause.

Your coworkers sound like a bunch of ignorant kids.

Tough luck for the shamisen maker, but great to reduce cruelty.

How so? Those cat skins are procured after death, and mostly natural death, not from euthanizing them. There arent ALL that many makers either, so plenty to go around.