Animal Welfare Training in Japan
In March this year, The Mayhew Animal Home’s Animal Care Manager Gillian Scott VN was invited to Kansai, Japan, to provide some shelter training at Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) and conduct a few seminars on animal welfare and vet nursing for the local veterinary community. Here is her report:
ARK is a shelter located in Kansai, on the main is-land of Japan. Elizabeth Oliver, a British ex-pat liv-ing in Japan, set up ARK in 1990 in response to the overwhelming need for something constructive to be done in light of Japan’s poor welfare standards and attitudes towards animals in the country.
The animals at ARK are well cared for (with plenty of affection, exercise and mental stimulation) by the Ark staff; unfortunately some of them have little chance of finding a home due to health or behav-ioural issues. In stark contrast, I was horrified by what I saw in pet shops and the hokenshos, local municipality pounds. The animals in pet shops had no food, water, bedding or toys. The dogs at the hokensho did not even react to the presence of people; they just lay listlessly on the cold con-crete floor at the back of their cells, waiting to die. Japan has the same statutory 7-days holding period for stray dogs as we do in the UK.
On a more positive note, I gave four lectures to a varied audience during my time there. My talks covered the following topics: Humane euthanasia – Unfortunately, in Japan, many vets will not carry out euthanasia. Stray animals are killed with carbon monoxide gas. Neutering – Vets in Japan will rarely neuter, although neutering has been proven to be the only humane method of controlling animal populations. I also discussed early neutering and its benefits. Responsible pet ownership – This included allowing off lead exercise and the free
dom for all animals to enjoy a stimulating, natural life. Vets and Nurses in the UK – I discussed the high standard of training the vets and nurses undergo in the UK, in particular, the manda-tory hours of practical experience before earn-ing their qualification. Many Japanese vets leave vet school without having ever handled an animal. The work of The Mayhew Animal Home and Mayhew International, in particular, the International Veterinary Training Programme.
At the end of each session, I demonstrated how to correctly handle animals for examination. One of the ―explanations‖ given by vets for their not humanely euthanizing with intravenous barbitu-rates was that dogs are ―different‖ in Japan and cannot be handled. This is obviously inaccurate and some handling training was invaluable.
I had some positive feedback from my lectures and I hope that my talks demonstrated how ani-mal welfare in Japan can be improved. ARK is doing a fantastic job and rehoming animals very successfully. Visit their website for more details: www.arkbark.net.
Visit from Japan
Following on from our Animal Care Manager’s visit to Japan and ARK (Animal Refuge Kensai) in March 2008, we were fortunate to receive a return visit from Mikki Fujiwara, ARK, as well as students from Toyko Business School studying animal related courses. ARK, established in 1990, is an NGO private organisation with the aim of forming a network of people who love animals and relieving the suffering of them.