Weekly News Digest
産経オンライン英会話 ニュースディスカッション教材
With 15 Stores all over Japan, the enterprise aims to introduce shelter dogs and cats to potential foster owners. And more than 16,000 happy pets have found a home.
When I opened the door, I heard energetic barking and saw different colored bodies running towards me. Some smaller dogs snuggled up and jumped onto my lap.
This is “HOGOKEN CAFE®” (shelter dog cafe) which harbors dogs and cats abandoned by their owners or taken from breeders because of their age or health. The store is not only a place to interact with pets, but also to match them with potential foster owners.
The cafe was opened eight years ago by the non-profit organization “Love Five,” headquartered in Higashinari-ku, Osaka. The NPO has 9 stores all over Japan, with about 15 animals enrolled in each store at the time of the interview.
The stores get about 250 visitors a day nationwide, including those who come to adopt them. Happily, more than 16,000 pets have found new homes here so far.
Adopted dogs may also come with their foster owner to play at the dog cafe.
On the day we visited, a 54 year old woman had dropped by the store with her pet, a toy poodle. She had previously adopted her pet, Cocoa, when the animal was retired from a breeder.
At the time, the woman also had an aging dog named Milk who had lost her eyesight. Initially Cocoa was aggressive toward her new owner, biting the woman’s hand no matter how many times she was told not to. Yet she was kind to Milk, who couldn’t see, walking in front of the older dog to lead the way when they went for walks. When Milk had to have her vocal cords removed due to a chronic illness, she was left with no voice but managed to let out a sound to communicate with her owner.
Cocoa is also getting older now. Her eyesight has deteriorated and she is therefore afraid to go for a walk. But on this day she appeared calm, resting comfortably in her owner’s arms. “I’m really grateful she came to me,” Cocoa’s owner reflected.
Junya Yoshii, 37, a Love Five board member, voiced the NPO’s concerns about the current situation. The COVID-19 containment measures imposed since 2020 have increased the demand for pets as more people looked to them for comfort.
Once the pandemic subsides, people will go back to their jobs and resume their daily life, making time for their hobbies. “I’m afraid that more people will give up taking care of their pets and let them go when that happens,” Yoshii said. “In any event, one needs to be determined to make them [pets] happy until the end. We would like people to be prepared to welcome pets into their lives.”
扉を開けると、元気な声が耳に飛び込んできた。さまざまな毛色の小さな体が走り寄ってくる。身体をすり寄せ、膝の上に飛び乗ってくる小柄な犬もいた。
ここは「ＨＯＧＯＫＥＮＣＡＦＥ®（保護犬カフェ）」。迎えてくれるのは、飼い主の都合で捨てられたり、年齢や健康面などを踏まえ、ペットの繁殖業者から保護されたりした犬や猫だ。だから、店はペットと触れ合うだけでなく、彼らと里親をマッチングする場所でもある。
カフェは８年前に動物愛護団体のＮＰＯ法人「ラブファイブ」（本部・大阪市東成区）が開設した。全国に９店舗あり、１店舗に１５匹前後が在籍。全国で引き取り希望者を含む訪問者は１日約２５０人にのぼる。これまでに新しい飼い主を見つけられたケースは１万６０００件を超えたという。
カフェは引き取られた保護犬が里親とともに遊びに来ることがある。この日も、里親となった女性（５４）がペットと店を訪れていた。女性が引き取ったのは繁殖犬を引退したトイプードルのココア。このとき、女性の家には高齢で視力を失ったミルクという先輩がいた。ココアは引き取った当初、何度教えても手をかむなど攻撃的な性格だったが、目の見えないミルクに対しては、散歩のときに先導するなど優しかったという。ミルクが持病の発作を起こしたときには、声帯が除去されていたため、本来出るはずのない声を振り絞り、女性に知らせたこともあった。
今はココアも高齢になった。視力も衰え、散歩を怖がるようになったというが、この日は女性に抱かれ穏やかな表情をみせていた。女性は「私のところに来てくれたことに本当に感謝しています」と話した。
ラブファイブ代表理事の吉井純也さん（３７）は、気になっていることがある。昨年からのコロナ禍で自粛生活が長引き、癒やしを求めてペットの需要が高まっている。コロナ感染がいったん収まると、仕事が再開されたり、趣味の時間が復活するはずだ。そうなったときに世話をすることを放棄し、ペットを手放す人が増えるのではないか…という危惧を抱いているのだ。吉井さんは「とにかく最期まで幸せにするという決意が必要。覚悟をもってペットを迎え入れ、生活をしてほしい」と訴えた。