Companion Animals in Japan

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the actual conditions of companion animals in Japan to understand how the conception of animal welfare has changed between the end of the 20th century until nowadays. Animal welfare has been evolving steadily in time and it is still in evolution given the growing importance that pets have gained as daily life companions. In Japan, like in the rest of the world, the pet population has been increasing exponentially in the past few decades helping create new conceptions of companion animals, which in the past had only practical purposes. However, at the same time, new business opportunities stemmed in Japan such as pet cafes, places where humans can freely interact with animals of different species, and pet stores, where anyone can enter and buy a cute puppy or kitten. However, as humans certainly benefit from these businesses the same cannot be said for the animals involved, the Japanese pet industry produces a large number of puppies and kittens by exploiting breeding dogs to the extreme. Those same puppies are then sold at exorbitant prices to end up in pet cafes or in private homes, where they are either treated as members of the family or as mere fashion accessories. When they are not needed anymore they are discarded ending up in governmental shelters where the chances of being culled are high. Because of the current system of the pet industry, and the way that animals are managed in governmental shelters, the majority of animal welfare advocates agree Japanese animal welfare to be at least 20 years behind western countries. The lack of clear regulations and guidelines to be applied to breeders and pet stores together with the low attention of the public towards animal welfare issues, are believed to be the most challenging topic for Japanese NPOs. Nonetheless, many pro animal associations in Japan have strong ties with European countries and are trying to implement changes in line with international standards.