Fun with fur babies!

I’d been following a page for our base on Facebook for awhile called P.A.W.S., or Pets Are Worth Saving, that makes trips to a local animal shelter once a month to play with the pets there. It seems like our base operates so much off of Facebook pages–I made myself a new Facebook just so I could be an active part of the community here! I’d forgotten I was even following the page, until I saw something pop up in my feed about going to play with dogs and cats at an animal shelter close to base. Having left my cat Nala at home with my parents rather than drag her around the world with me, I’ve been in dire need for some furry cuddle time! We adopted two hamsters when we first moved into our apartment, but they can’t quite provide the same level of comfort and snuggles that a dog or cat can. (They’re still really cute and awesome though; see below picture for proof).

I met up with a group of other animal lovers on a brisk Sunday morning, and we carpooled over to the animal shelter. When we first walked into the shelter (which really just looked like a house), we were greeted with morose and insistent meows from dozens and dozens of cats in cages! I’d say there were at least 50 cats in large cages in the first room we walked into! We made our way upstairs, where there were 10 dogs in crates and kennels. They immediately started barking and yowling excitedly; they knew what we were there for!

We staked out our preferred dogs, standing in front of their cages waiting for the Japanese lady who owns the shelter to give us the go-ahead. She finally handed us all leashes and we were able to take the dogs out! We followed the owner of the shelter to a local park, where we were able to play with the dogs, roll around in the grass, run with them along the river, let them happily sniff each other’s butts and roughhouse a bit!

The dog who I had taken responsibility for that morning was Momichi, a dog who was rescued from the Fukushima explosion. One of the volunteers who regularly comes to the shelter told me that when they first got him, he was more or less feral. By the time I got to meet him though, he’d been turned into a well-mannered and friendly pup.

I will admit, he was a little skittish and also seemed like he had ulterior motives for our morning together in the park. A few times, he would eagerly start trotting along, pulling me with him as we began to run. Then, as soon as we’d get up to speed, he would plant his feet and try to wriggle his collar over his head! An escape artist in the making!

I asked if the dogs were adopted regularly and moved in and out quickly, but was told that many of the dogs had been there for at least a year. In general, shelters in Japan will not allow military to adopt pets; they think it’s too stressful for dogs and cats to be subjected to constantly changing homes and having to travel. This shelter is the same. When one of my fellow volunteers asked the owner if she could adopt the dog she was playing with, the owner was quick to tell her that she wouldn’t adopt the pets out to people in the military.

We stayed and played with the dogs outside for a couple hours before heading back to the shelter to give the cats some attention! When I had initially walked in the doors of the shelter, I had felt so bad for the cats locked in cages. But when we got back, we were able to open the doors of the cages and let all the cats out at once! I immediately could see that the cats were used to being out of their cages regularly, as they strolled out and started scratching on posts, jumping into beds and boxes that were scattered throughout the room, and huddling in front of the heater in the middle of the room.

Some of the cats were fearful to come out of their cages, and opted to stay in their comfort zone. We were also told not to let the cats our of an adjoining room; those were the mean cats that had their own living quarters!

The bond the cats had with the owner was clear, as they rubbed against her legs and perched on her shoulder. I plopped myself down in the middle of the floor, and within a few minutes had three cats snuggled into my lap! It was cat heaven! After our fair share of cat cuddles, we headed back towards base. It was a morning well-spent, with my need for furry snuggles satiated and lots of dogs and kitties having received some extra lovin’ on their end! Win-win for everyone involved!