Susan's Blog - August 08 entries
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Afraid their little heads are going to start spinning...
August 2, 2008 : 12:55 AM
One day runs into the next, with cleaning and feeding and cleaning.
Fewer English lessons because of the break, so have been putting more
energy into the shelter, but there is an endless list. The kitten run
is becoming a priority as the kittens are getting bigger, and we're in
a holding pattern as far as adoptions are concerned. I can do most of
the building myself, but there are a few points that I'll have to get
some advice on. The plan is to build a long narrow enclosure right
outside one of the kitten room windows. There is already a concrete
slab running along the side of the building, that we can use as a base,
and our local home center has just gotten in some strong flexible
fencing meant to keep out wild boar. Hoping it is strong enough to keep
in wild kitten! Our recent cage dilemma is to newspaper or not to
newspaper. They seem to think the newspapers are a toy that we've put
in, and they joyfully crumple them up almost immediately. Several of
the groups still prefer the litter boxes to their beds, so are sleeping
there and making a shocking mess of everything else. The crumpled and
rolled about newspapers become part of this mess, but they do soak up
some of the gunk, making it easier to pull everything out of the cage
for cleaning. Sometimes I see pictures of kitten cages with cute little
beds and toys and I can't help wondering how that possibly works. Most
of ours have demolished everything in their cages, as well as whatever
they can reach their little paws to grab outside, within an hour or to
of having them completely cleaned. In fact I think the morning cage
cleaning may be the challenge of their day, to see who can return their
cage to it's previous state first. When I start out cleaning, the room
is fairly quiet. By the time I'm finished, the cages are rattling with
kittens rolling around, jumping up and down the levels, with water from
their dishes sloshing everywhere. The bigger they get, the bigger the
mess, but if this continues, I'm going to have to trade my rubber
gloves in for a bio-hazard suit.
Comments
August 5, 2008 at 4:04 AM
posted by: Spax
Wish we could help you with the cattery! We just built one over the 4th
of July weekend for a colony of cats that had to be relocated. We
bought chicken wire and stapled that to a frame of 2x4s (heavy-duty
staples, of course), and we had no escapees. We also put lots of
shelves and platforms in for the cats to sit on different levels, kind
of like the Best Friends enclosures.
Best Friends lists resources somewhere (I think the section 'You and your pets') for outdoor enclosures.
As for the kitty cages, I also only know the ones that look like they've been thru a furry hurricane :)
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Home is where the ball of yarn is
August 4, 2008 : 2:08 AM
David took Basil to his new home on Saturday. We were a little worried
how he would do, since his group has always been the least friendly,
but he seemed to settle in right away. His new owner said that he was
already playing with toys and sitting on her lap. David had begun
preparing him over the last week, by taking him out of the cage for
play and petting, so I think that really helped. Hoping that he
continues to feel comfortable there. Decided to continue using the
newspapers on the bottom of the cages, despite the crumpling and
tossing around, and are pleased to see that the novelty has worn off!
Still a bit messy, but cleanup is easier and less time consuming.
Downside is lots more trash, but using less disinfectant/cleaning
product. Since Basil left, we decided to shuffle the groups a little,
which is improving the cleanup as well. The monkeys switched to a
bigger cage, and they seem to be quite pleased with their new outlook
on the room. A bigger cage for them means it's easier for us to attend
to their always surprising and innovative ways of distributing globs of
food, (ETC.!) throughout, while their litter box remains sparkling
clean. The rest of the Herbs switched to a smaller cage, and have now,
thankfully, decided to use their litter box as a litter box. Miffy
(white kitten from animal control) has moved with Taro, Michelle and
Sasuke to the biggest cage. They can all indulge their constant desire
to wrestle in a more spacious and sturdy environment, with less
likelihood of spills and food dish upsets. We heard from the vet that
the the kitten he's keeping has recovered from the arm trouble and can
return. Not sure if that's Buchi or Puchi, as I can't quite keep track
of the names. We had a recent inquiry about the two black females from
that group--Nana and Lulu, though I have no idea which is which--but
one seems to have a hard lump on the top of her head. Plan to get it
checked when picking up Puchi (?).
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Feeling festive
August 6, 2008 : 12:51 AM
Busy morning yesterday with David in Tokyo, Lulu going for a vet check,
and Buchi (!) coming back to the shelter. The vet says that Lulu's bump
is just less muscle covering bone, and that he sees it in lots of
cats/kittens, so no need to worry. Buchi returned strong and healthy,
though somewhat spoiled. The vet sent along a packet of Buchi's
"favorite food", in fact the only food that he wants to eat. They take
such amazing care of the kittens at the vet's clinic, that it's
sometimes a little hard for the returnees to adjust to group life
afterward, and it's easy to sympathize with the disappointment of
switching from "spa" life--room of my own, gourmet food, round the
clock attention--to homeless shelter. We put Buchi in a cage of his own
to give him time to adjust before moving him back in with his brother
and sisters, but he cried into the afternoon, so we let the group out
for a playtime and re-introduction. His toys (presents from the vet)
were
quickly co-opted, he was vigorously sniffed, and within in a short time
they were all tumbling around together. He was able to move into their
cage, and is doing fine there, but seems to have decided that we are
not to be trusted. When I reach in to pick him up he hisses and runs to
the back of the cage. We'll win him over eventually. Had an escape from
the veranda enclosure yesterday, and have yet to catch sight of the
escapees. The chicken wire has deteriorated in spots making it weak
enough to punch through with some persistence, and these four are hard
core. Summer seems to bring out the traveler in them, and as it's been
a while since their last breakout, I expect it will take us some time
to track them down. The good news is big hole in the wall, and nobody
else chooses to leave! We patched it up, but will have to start making
a stronger reinforcement plan. Yesterday evening, I went with Linda and
Wim to a nearby shrine for a summer festival. I rarely do anything like
that these days, and I forgot how interesting the local festivals can
be. There was a traditional theater performance with drums, flute,
large dragon puppets, and acrobats. I shook a box of sticks until one
fell out and brought the number to a counter to exchange for a paper
telling my fortune. It said that now it is winter, and the trees are
bare, but that spring is coming with many leaves and flowers. I guess
the message is that if I am patient, good things will come! Feeling
hopeful about our meeting with the Osaka government about TNR tomorrow.
Our local animal control contact recently met with police and
veterinarians about TNR and got a favorable response, so I've got to
think the tide is turning.
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A meeting of the minds
August 7, 2008 : 1:11 PM
Yesterday Lee came out to talk with us about being a foster care giver.
She ended up taking Bunny, our white mother cat from animal control,
and they seem to be well matched. Both are fair skinned, petite and
blue-eyed! We've kept Bunny in a cage since she arrived, as she's had a
cold, so she was thrilled to be out and about in Lee's apartment. Lee
is really pleased to be taking care of Bunny, and we are very happy to
see this cat in a loving home. Went to Osaka today to meet with
government animal welfare representatives and feel like the final
outcome was positive. They agreed that they have a problem with cats in
the park, and that they do not have a good plan to solve it without
volunteers. The sticky point was getting them to officially urge the
parks department to work with us. They said that they would need time
to decide what position to take--until now their position has been that
we can do TNR or not do it, they don't care. I tried to explain our
feelings about the position they've taken by giving them this example:
You have a community center which really needs painting, but you don't
have money to buy paint and you don't have staff to do the work. Some
volunteers tell you that they would like to help the community by
painting the center at their own expense, and on their own time. Would
you say to them, you can do that or not do that--we don't care, either
way? And if you said such a thing, how likely would you be to get any
help with this kind of project in the future? I hope they are beginning
to understand how unreasonable and unhelpful it is to take their
current position. As to their needing time, we suggested that if it
takes them too long, we'll assume they need some help deciding, and we
will let the public know which offices to call to show support for TNR
in the parks. One thing that we established is that there had been a
miscommunication about our having to stop trapping. They said there was
no such mandate in place, so we can go back to trapping at any time. We
can't afford to lose ground, and we're making plans to go back to
trapping on Sunday, but we now know that our ability to continue the
project indefinitely is dependent on establishing some commitment on
the part of the government. We'll have to continue to try to secure
that as soon as possible.
Comments
August 12, 2008 at 11:58 AM
posted by: bunnylee
Bunny is a happy little cat whom I adore, thanks guys!
August 7, 2008 at 2:43 PM
posted by: Spax
Sounds like a good step in the right direction for Osaka! I'm happy you can resume trapping.
Andrea
August 7, 2008 at 1:21 PM
posted by: catblessed
Bunny is such a beautiful cat. She must be very happy to be in a home.
I very much enjoy reading your blog. Thank you for all of the work you
are doing to help these cat. I pray for a positive outcome in working
with the parks department.
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New homes and careers
August 9, 2008 : 11:57 AM
Taro, the ginger tabby that we trapped with his mother on Mother's Day,
has left us for his new home in Tokyo. He was a little ball of fury
when we brought him to the shelter, but he slowly turned into one of
the friendliest kittens. He went to a wonderful new home, along with
Chula, so it's a very happy day for us. Takako came by in the evening
to take more pictures of kittens to put on an adoption web site.
http://www.satoya-boshu.net/ We've had quite a bit of luck finding
homes that way, so far, but are starting to get nervous as the kittens
get bigger. We heard that Hinata and Naruto (ginger tabby and calico)
made their debut at the Cat Cafe and we are planning to go out to visit
this week. They have new names now, and are looking as cute as ever. I
imagine they'll be quite successful in their career as "cafe cats!" See them on the Nyanny blog...
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Bringing trapping back
August 13, 2008 : 12:15 PM
Went trapping in the park on Sunday, with Linda and Wim. We were
limited as far as the number of traps we could carry on the train, so
we were only able to trap 3. Distressing to see lots more without
tipped ears, in locations that we thought were basically finished. The
first young female didn't really need to use the trap, since she let us
pick her up, and in fact started purring once we put her in the trap! I
imagine she's been recently abandoned, and we're trying to decide
whether she should even return to the park after her spay tomorrow.
Shelter space is limited, so we've been trying to return all healthy
adult cats to the park. But, we're also worried about possible abuse,
and such a friendly cat is a real target. We then trapped what appeared
to be her sister, though not as friendly, and an older male with a bad
upper respiratory infection. I plan to go to the park on Friday, to
trap again, but it's questionable as to whether I'll be able to release
any of these three then. Linda and Wim go back to the Netherlands
tomorrow. We've so enjoyed visiting with them, and their support has
been a big help. We all went out to see Susan in Tokushima yesterday
and had a chance to see the Awaodori dance festival--interesting the
first time a group of people marches buy waving one hand and then the
other, but after the 10th group or so, I'd have to say that I don't
think anyone is "bringing sexy back." Speaking of which, we all went
out for karaoke after the festival, and had a great time singing out of
date yet fun to belt out pop songs. Got to spend some time with the
cats and kittens in Susan's shelter, Heart
http://www.heart-tokushima.com/index_en.html and meet a few of the dogs
as well. We try to support each other whenever possible, but it's more
than a 4 hour trek for either of us to actually get out to see each
other, so it was a really nice chance to catch up.
Comments
August 13, 2008 at 12:30 PM
posted by: catmominme
I love to read about your efforts to help these poor cats! And I agree,
friendly cats are definitely a real target for cruelty. They expect
kindness and suffer for it unfortunately in any country or town. :(
The ferals are tougher to catch, but have more of a chance to survive
on their own (once neutered of course) just because they don't let too
many folks get near enough to them.
I hope you are able to find the friendly ones a home!
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We shall overcome
August 15, 2008 : 4:07 AM
Just talked with some of the volunteers involved in the park project
about the three cats we recently trapped. Spay and Neuter operations
had to be delayed until today due to local holidays, and we had to
decide what to do about ear tipping. Tip if return to the park, don't
tip if headed to the shelter and possible re-homing. The lady holding
the cats until spay/neuter said that all three are friendly, and that
she was even able to give the male cat eye drops for his URI symptoms.
Difficult decision as most people here are not interested in adopting
adult cats, so it's possible that they may have to spend the rest of
their lives in the shelter (no-kill). But, we don't feel good about
returning cats that are so obviously vulnerable to attack, so they'll
come to the shelter rather than return to the park. Recently we have
had several expats ask about adopting adult cats, and we will keep our
fingers crossed! We're still in some amount of conflict with the park
and the parks department over our TNR project. One of the park staff
informed me that they had sent some abandoned kittens to animal
control, when we have clearly asked that they inform us as soon as
possible about any abandonment, sick cats, or cats who have died. I
assume this is them saying that they are backing off from cooperating
with us. Have scheduled a meeting with the prefectural animal welfare
division next week to hear what their response to our previous meeting
is, so am slightly worried that the park's lack of cooperation is a bad
sign. We are not just interested in helping the cats in the park--our
number one goal in starting the project in Yamada Ike Koen is to change
the system that brings those cats there. When I say "the system" I mean
the public's continued abandonment and feeding of cats vs. spay/neuter,
and the lack of a humane animal welfare policy in place to deal with
it. Just like rescuing kittens without spaying and neutering means we
will always be rescuing kittens, TNR without changing the system that
brings cats to the park means that we will always be spaying and
neutering. We believe that we can change the system by doing these
things:
1. Kindly educating and assisting the public in spaying and neutering the animals that they care for.
2. Being a good role model for the humane treatment of animals by
rescuing animals from TNR sites that are not appropriate for return.
3. Spreading the word as much as possible through the media, so that
the public has a chance to get used to the idea of TNR and spay/neuter,
in general.
4. Firmly reminding the government that this is a social problem, and
that they have a responsibility to address social problems.
5. Urging the public to let the government know that they support the TNR plan for parks and communities.
6. Insisting that owners of TNR project properties cooperate with us in solving problems with stray cats on their properties.
The history of animal rescue here has been many small unconnected
efforts by people working in secret and out of fear for the animals'
lives. The less confrontational, the better, and just being allowed to
go in and help the animals, without too much harassment, was an
accomplishment. But given the huge success of the very publicized and
government funded cat welfare effort in Tokyo, we think we need to move
on to the next level here in Kansai. Understandably this has met with
some resistance from the government and animal welfare groups, as well.
We still believe this is the best approach, and plan to continue
struggling on in this direction, no matter what the government's
response is.
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Five find foster
August 17, 2008 : 11:03 AM
Went to Osaka today to drop off the five kittens at their new foster
home!! We had almost given up hope finding foster care for them, while
we look for new owners. But we received a mail from someone wanting to
volunteer this week, and we set up a meeting for yesterday. Today she
has five kittens at her apartment--bet she didn't see that coming! The
kittens settled in immediately, and were disappointingly quick to turn
their affection towards their new "mama" who was equally sweet to them.
I think they'll be so much happier with all of the space, and a chance
to run around a lot more often. They seemed to take quite a liking to
the bed! We brought their cage so that they can stay there sometimes,
but I think it's clear where they would choose to sleep. After we
dropped off the kittens we met Lee to pick up Bunny and take her to one
of our volunteers who will drop her off for her spay tomorrow. Lee says
she's doing great--Bunny greets her in the morning with kisses, and has
a favorite perch on the window ledge. I think she seemed sad to leave
Lee for a few days, but I was a little concerned about her going into
heat, so I'm glad to get this out of the way. At the same time we
dropped Bunny off, we picked up two of the friendly cats from the park
who had just been spayed. Our volunteer is keeping the male, and trying
to re-home him herself, as he still has a bad upper respiratory
infection and would be difficult to keep at the shelter. The calico
cried angrily all the way back home on the train--I think we may have
frightened some children! She settled into her cage OK though, once she
had a nice dish of food in front of her. Not sure she had anything to
eat after her operation. The other female is a brown tabby and she was
very well behaved on the train. They are sharing a cage because we
believe them to be siblings. We'll vaccinate after they settle in
tomorrow, and they can join the group in a week or so. Back to English
classes tomorrow, and it's hard to know how I'll readjust to the
schedule. The hard thing is switching my focus back and forth from
shelter mode to teacher mode. But, back to work means back to getting
paid, so there is an upside.
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The signs they are a changing?
August 21, 2008 : 1:48 AM
Tired today. Trying to juggle classes and a few weighty concerns about
the park, have me wishing I could be somebody else for a day. The sign
in the photo is a typical sign telling people not to feed stray
cats--nothing about spay/neuter. It's ineffective in stopping the
people who feed cats without spay and neuter, and it makes things
difficult for those who are trying to do TNR, as it helps continue
misunderstanding within the community. Met with the animal welfare
section of the government about the park project on Tuesday. The end
result was not what we'd hoped for, that is the animal welfare section
agreeing in writing to cooperate with us on an ongoing TNR project in
the park. What they did agree to was to ask the parks department to do
that within the next week. We'll have to wait again to see if anything
comes of it. I got the feeling they were trying to see if they could
get away with continuing to stay out of the issue. We asked them that
when we tell the story, and we WILL tell the story, which side did they
want to be on? We keep hearing that bad publicity does not concern
government officials here, but I think it's just not something anyone
tries very often. And, they underestimate our lack of inhibition in
communicating with the press along with our determination to bring
change. They kept saying that they agreed with us, and could we not
just accept that, rather than demand a formal agreement. We know that
the only real way to convince the general public that TNR is the way to
go, is if the government puts their stamp of approval on it. And this
means we can take down signs like the one in the photo and put up signs
about spay/neuter. But, if the parks department signs a formal
agreement, that's a good start, and hopefully animal welfare will have
the courage to do so when we demonstrate success. The bad news is that
other volunteers seem to confirm the number of ear-tipped cats in the
park to have dropped, which is what I thought on our last visit. We
have to face the strong possibility that cats are being removed to be
sold for experimentation and/or shamisen (cat skin is used in making
this traditional Japanese instrument). This has always been a concern,
but we thought the spotlight our project has shown on the park might
protect the cats. It's possible our recent conflict with the
government, leading to the park's lack of support for the project has
given someone an opportunity. It makes me sick to think of animals that
we've nursed back to health and returned (or any of the other cats for
that matter), ending up in a lab somewhere or being skinned. I've
always tried to accept that we can't control what other people do when
we're not around. We can patrol, file police reports, and promote the
humane treatment of these cats. We can't take them all in, and in many
cases they would be miserable even if we could. I know that we have to
keep pressing on, and that attacking this issue is just one more aspect
of effecting change. I have to hope that we can get enough volunteers
back in the park to create a stronger presence. The good news is that
the 5 kittens in foster care are doing well, more specifically, their
care giver doesn't seem to be tearing her hair out! She's making
posters and has already begun to help with ideas on re-homing them. And
we have three kittens going out to new homes this week.
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A new day
August 22, 2008 : 8:55 AM
Our local animal control contact called to meet with us today with good
news. She's planning on putting an article about TNR in the city
newsletter next month, highlighting our group and calling for more
volunteers to expand our projects. This may also help us convince the
larger Osaka animal welfare division to work with us, so it's very
encouraging. The two new 6 month old cats from the park are still
staying in cages, until their vaccines take. They'll join the shelter
enclosures, rather than move towards re-homing right away, since we
still have so many kittens to work on. The calico has a strange cry
that sounds more like a bird, and we thought maybe it was from
overusing her voice, looking for help. But her "bird cry" persists, and
she's quite a talker! Both of them love to be petted and held, and I am
so glad we decided not to return them to the park. Still working on
thinking up names. Sid, our brown tabby kitten with spots, went to his
new home last night. David said they seemed like a very nice couple and
they fell in love with Sid immediately. He's a kitten who probably
wouldn't have survived if not for our vet, since he had a terrible
abscess on his leg when he was rescued from the park, and the vet kept
him at the clinic for over a month. Elroy returned from his neutering
operation today, in preparation to go to his new home in Tokyo. We are
trying to take him out a bit, so the change from cage to house won't be
such a shock for him. Have a volunteer coming to help in the kitten
room tomorrow, so it will be a nice chance to get some playtime in.
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Back to school
August 26, 2008 : 9:25 AM
Elisa came out on Saturday to help clean the kitten cages and ended up
taking one home to foster--Judy, one of the Jetsons. Judy's roommate,
Mimi, will be going to her new home tomorrow, so we thought it would be
a good time to try something new for Judy. Elisa says she's doing well.
She was a bit of a pacer in her cage, and hated to be put back after
cleaning, so I imagine she's enjoying herself. Met with one of our
volunteers on Sunday when she brought Bunny back after her spay. This
woman has taken over 6000 cats to be spayed/neutered! She helps those
working on TNR projects by holding cats at her house in cages, taking
them to the vet for operations, and holding them again afterward, until
they can be released. She also helps re-home unreturnable cats and has
kept two cats from the park that were very friendly. Another volunteer
came along to talk with us about his upcoming move back to his
hometown, due to his father's illness. He's worried about a colony that
he'll have to leave behind, and wants us to help find a new feeder. The
difficulty is that the feeding stations are on the grounds of the
company (Daihatsu) he was working for, so a new feeder will probably
need to get some kind of official permission to enter the grounds. Will
talk with animal control about the best way to recommend the continued
care of these cats to the company. Removing them will only mean more
trouble for the company, as new cats will undoubtedly move in to the
area, and these will not be spayed or neutered. Visited the 5 kittens
in foster care Sunday evening. All are looking alternately ecstatic,
chasing toys around, and exhausted, collapsing all over the place. The
cat tower that we ordered arrived and An put it together, only to have
it ignored by everyone! Probably has some factory smell still on it, so
maybe they'll become interested in a few days. Classes and cleaning on
Monday and Tuesday--starting to get back into the swing of things, but
David and I have both had colds for a few days now, so moving a little
more slowly than usual. Teaching does create a time crunch, as far as
the shelter is concerned, but I really enjoy talking with the kids and
watching their English improve over the years. One of tonight's
students started lessons with me at age 3, and is still studying at 13.
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Two cats are better than one
August 28, 2008 : 12:04 PM
Went out to the park with Takako to see if we could set up our idea for
our kitten adoption event on Saturday. We want to build a kind of
enclosed play area for the kittens, which people can enter. We plan to
use an awning on top of wire fencing. It looks like it will work, but I
think we won't know how well until we actually get there. Had someone
pick up David's tickets to Tokyo for this Sunday. He'll bring Elroy
(now Tansei) and Sasuke. Tansei will be adopted and Sasuke will be
fostered by the same family. These two are quite fond of one another,
so I'm happy that they're going to the same place, at least for the
time being. We've had them out of their cages the last few days,
preparing for their new life in a house, and we'll miss these two very
sweet cats! Talked with a woman in Osaka wanting to start a TNR project
in another park. Feeling spread pretty thin these days, and hoping we
can round up some good volunteers in that area.
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Kids meet kittens
August 30, 2008 : 7:16 PM
Our new idea for an adoption event worked out nicely--some rain, but a
few tarps saved the day. We set up a kind of tent with fencing wrapped
around it, at a local summer festival, and let kids enter to play with
kittens. We covered the floor with carpet squares over linoleum, set up
a couple of small cat towers with some hiding spaces, and brought two
large cages with a total of 7 kittens (4-5 months old) inside. The
litter boxes stayed in the cages, which we covered, in case the kittens
wanted to take a break from the crowd. We clipped claws, to lesson the
chance of an accidental scratch, and had lots of wand style toys, as
well as some kitty snacks available. I think our space was really
popular with the kids at the festival, as we had a steady stream of
visitors. Allowing kids to touch the kittens, and play with them gives
us a chance to teach them how they should interact with animals, and it
gets them interested in taking care of animals. It also gave us a
chance to see which kittens respond well to kids--3 of the kittens had
a ball, playing with the toys that the kids waved around, tirelessly! 1
came in and out of the cage off and on, and 3 basically never left the
cages. I wasn't sure which kittens to bring, and mistakenly decided on
the herbs, more because of how cute they are. They just haven't gotten
to the level of friendliness, needed for an event like this. We didn't
find any new homes this time, but we had a chance to display posters
about spay/neuter and the need for volunteers, to a large amount of
people who brought their children to the event. The general response
from people was good, so we plan to check out other festivals in
September, and see if we can take our show on the road.
Comments
August 31, 2008 at 5:17 AM
posted by: japancatnet
The festival was in Yokaichi, a town about 30 minutes away from our
shelter, which is located in Shiga ken, Japan. There are a lot of
festivals held in towns all over Japan, throughout the year, but many
are held in the summer months. People from the town get together to
eat, play games, buy/sell stuff, etc., and often there's a traditional
aspect. The festival we were at included performers singing old style
Japanese songs on an outdoor stage. Everyone comes with their family,
so there's lots of kids. We've brought cats to this kind of event
before, to highlight adoption and talk about animal welfare, but always
just in cages. We were really pleased with how comfortable the setting
inside the 2.5 meter square enclosure turned out, for both kittens and
kids, and how easy it was to set it all up.
August 30, 2008 at 8:20 PM
posted by: librablue13
Great idea! Where was this?Two to Tokyo
August 31, 2008 : 7:58 AM
David took Tansei (Elroy) and Sasuke to Tokyo today, so we were up
around 5:30am, after a late to bed night cleaning up from the event.
The couple adopting Tansei and fostering Sasuke have a nice big
apartment and the kittens seemed right at home immediately. Both
kittens have very sweet and loving personalities, but Tansei is more
quiet and calm, while Sasuke is full of play. I'm looking forward to
seeing pictures from their new life! Elisa came out again to clean
kitten cages and brought a friend. They made quick work of what can be
an all afternoon job for me, and since Elisa is already fostering a
kitten at her place, it was really nice of them to come out. Working
out tomorrow's schedule, which will have me taking care of the shelter,
planning lessons for the week, and teaching in the afternoon. David
will take traps to a guy in Kyoto who wants to start trapping near his
school, then go to check out Osaka's Mino park with a woman who is
interested in doing some TNR there, and finally take a woman to An's
house to look at kittens for adoption. Also need to go out to buy
kitten food in the evening.
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