Short dog leashes?

[mad pierrot]

I've got some time to kill so I thought I'd just throw this out. Has anyone else noticed the incredibly short leashes many dogs are kept on in Japan? In my town alone, there are probably half a dozen dogs tied up like this. They're all kept outside tied to a dog house with a 3 foot leash. Even my supervisor keeps his dog tied up on a short leash. People do take their dogs for walks around here, but that might be for only a short time, at best, once a day. This seems cruel to me, and I'm not even an animal rights activist. Any thoughts?

Other differences I've noticed in the way animals are kept in Japan:

1. Few people I've met outside of the city let their dogs inside their houses. Even in typhoon weather, I've seen dogs left outside. I can understand this, (That is, I wouldn't want to get mud all over the tatami.) but it seems taken to the extreme somtimes.

2. Pet stores seem not to be regulated at all. I've been in one room pet stores and seen monkeys, groundhogs, bandicoots, and all kinds of exotics crammed together.

3. A little of topic, but cats definately rule the land here. They're everywhere! Even at shrines. I live in a port town and there must be an army of cats living off handouts from the local fisherman. At least it keeps the rodent population down.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Ewok85]

1. Few people I've met outside of the city let their dogs inside their houses. Even in typhoon weather, I've seen dogs left outside. I can understand this, (That is, I wouldn't want to get mud all over the tatami.) but it seems taken to the extreme somtimes.

Yeah, that annoys me when people do that but the only person I knew in Japan with a dog (2, small yappy thing and a cool black labrador) let them in the house and theres was a fair garden outside (in Ichihara, Chiba-ken).

3. YES, i have never seen so many stray cats before!

 

[byp]

for one, animals should be forbidden, banned, excluded from the cities. they belong to the country side. they **** and piss on the walkways and that in itself is disgusting. then the smell... yeeeeeaaaaaccchhhhh ! and when they shake, just about anywhere, specially close to a place where you rest, have a drink or a feed, and you can see their dirty hairs floating in the air...
no. no dogs, no leashes.

 

[DragonChan]

byp, i'm not even going to comment on that. Animals are wonderful.



mad pierrot - I agree, that is cruel. Dogs are pack animals and need to be with their pack (family) as much as possible. Keeping them outside all the time is not smart, it's distressing for the animal and as a result they can become agressive. They also need at the VERY least 2 long walks a day. Having an animal is like having a child. Why would you get a dog, just to keep it outside all day? I'm surprised animal rights people everywhere haven't been going crazy about it.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Another Old Memory!

It drove me nuts to see my Japanese girlfriends dog on a 3 foot rope tied to a doghouse 24/7. I don't think it ever set foot in the house or got taken for a walk. I guess they think it is enough to feed and pet it once in a while?

Frank

:?

 

[kirei_na_me]

Another thing that bothers me is their attitude about spaying/neutering animals. They don't see the need to? At least all the ones I've ever known don't see the point in it.

 

[mdchachi]

Well there's no need to spay/neuter if you're going to keep them tied up on a 3-foot leash, is there?

 

[byp]

byp, i'm not even going to comment on that. Animals are wonderful.

???
First I NEVER asked you to comment, then I never said the contrary ! animals are wonderful when in their own environment. Cities ARE NOT natural environment for animals, and dogs have certainly not being created to be held on a leash, wether 10 meters or 30 centimers long.
Now, they still stink and there is nothing you or anyone can do about it, because it's natural. And if I resent walking in a street full of animal's dejections, there is nothing you can do about it. Excepted if you are a dog owner, you should be trained to to train your dog to be clean, and fined high amounts if you dont. In cities dog owners should be highly taxed to compensate for the nuisances.

 

[DragonChan]

Yes, dogs were not created to be kept on leash. However they have been bred for thousands of years to be companions, and as such you can't just throw them out in the wild, or let them off leash.

You're right, there is nothing I can do about it if you don't like the fact that dogs 'stink'. It's your choice to like or dislike animals.

I don't know what kind of dogs live in your city. Dogs can't be trained to be "clean". You can train them to go to the washroom outside. You can train them not to jump on your furniture. Most dog owners and dogs are very nice. It's only a small percent of people that don't take care of their dogs properly, or train them the right way. However that is the fault of the person, not the animal.

As for the taxing, you want to tax me extra for having a dog? It's bad enough with all the new leash laws,but that's just too much.

 

[mad pierrot]

It drove me nuts to see my Japanese girlfriends dog on a 3 foot rope tied to a doghouse 24/7. I don't think it ever set foot in the house or got taken for a walk. I guess they think it is enough to feed and pet it once in a while?

Wow, now THAT'S interesting. So this has been going on for a long time, then. I wonder how dogs were kept in the Edo period....

:?