Rev. J. Gordon Bengtson,

I just wanted to say that Japan definitely does allow pets - and they
have a market for ferrets, formerly being bought from New Zealand
before the ban. Now, Marshall Farms breeds and sends shipments to
Japan. They are sold in pet shops there.

In fact a Sony employee killed a ferret on tape and it was on a YouTube
type site (if not YouTube itself). It was originally uploaded to a
ferret BBS website for other owners to watch in horror. He bought
ferrets, hamsters, and other animals to kill. Anyway, Japan actually
has as much animal cruelty if not more than the US.

There is a wide spectrum of pet owners in Japan as there are here, with
loving, responsible, diligent owners who own Southern and Siberian
Flying Squirrels, opossums, cats, dogs, ferrets, turtles, etc....to
people who return dogs to pet shops emaciated because they don't know
what is wrong with them (yes, the dog needs to eat).

I have no statistics on Japanese animal cruelty vs. the United States,
but one thing to remember is that in Japan nearly the entire population
lives in metropolitan areas vs. rural areas.

If I have missed something please let me know - as far as I know, Japan
still does allow pets to be owned.

As for the rest of your post, I do agree, this is the real world, and
that is why I wish it could have been different. I have seen cases were
AC agencies have coordinated with shelters and done quite well, but as
I said it requires spectacularly dedicated and caring individuals to
make that happen and go the extra mile. Unfortunately that was not the
case in VA.

Laryssa

[Posted in FML 5879]