Late last month, we got a call from an individual that lives near our clinic.  They had found a Border Collie wandering around the neighborhood and weren't sure what to do.  
A quick check for a microchip and then a phone call, we were in touch with his owners. The dog had gotten out while they were at work and they would pick him up on their way home.  
​先月の末、当クリニックの近くに住んでいる方から電話がありました。近所をウロウロしているボーダーコリーを見つけたが、どうしていいかわからないとのことでした。
マイクロチップの確認をし、その後電話をかけたところ、飼い主と連絡が取れました。犬は飼い主が仕事中に逃げ出してしまったとのことで、帰り道に迎えに来るとのことでした。

If the dog hadn't found his way to us just around the corner, he may have ended up at animal control where operating hours are working hours and a fee is charged for an animals return to owner.  Being transported to Kamiyama and to be housed at their facility would have been very stressful for the dog. We are glad we were contacted and could make the whole process as hassle-free and stress-free as possible.
もしその犬がちょうど角を曲がったところにある私たちのクリニックにたどり着いていなかったら、動物管理センターに行っていたかもしれません。動物管理センターの営業時間は通常の勤務時間と重なり、動物を飼い主に返すためには手数料がかかります。神山の施設に運ばれて収容されることは、犬にとって非常にストレスの多い状況になっていたでしょう。私たちに連絡をいただけて、全体のプロセスをできるだけ簡単でストレスの少ないものにできたことを嬉しく思っています。

Under Japan's "Act on Welfare and Management of Animals" revised in 2022, it became mandatory for cats and dogs sold by breeders and pet shops to implant microchips to register the owner's details.  
Owners are advised to voluntarily microchip their pets and register them with the Ministry of the Environment, however it's estimated that only about 25% of pets have been microchipped.
2022年に改正された日本の「動物の愛護及び管理に関する法律」により、ブリーダーやペットショップが販売する猫や犬には、飼い主の情報を登録するためのマイクロチップの埋め込みが義務付けられました。
飼い主には自主的にペットにマイクロチップを埋め込み、環境省に登録することが推奨されていますが、実際にはペットの約25%しかマイクロチップが埋め込まれていないと推定されています。

It costs about 3000 yen to have a microchip implanted at a veterinary clinic (clinic prices vary so make sure to ask before making an appointment) but it could save you and your pet a lot of trouble and heartbreak if your pet is to go missing.
動物病院でマイクロチップを埋め込むには約3000円かかるが（料金はクリニックによって異なるので、予約の前に必ず問い合わせること）、ペットが行方不明になった場合、飼い主とペットの心を傷つけずにすむかもしれない。

Don't forget to tag your pet as well. A phone number attached to a collar will help any good samaritan contact you to let you know your pet is looking to come home.
ペットにタグをつけることも忘れずに。首輪に電話番号を付けておけば、善きサマリア人がペットが家に帰りたがっていることを連絡してくれる。

​Veterinary clinics, government animal controls and some police stations have microchip readers. Nowadays, they can be purchased on-line for a few thousand yen so we hope that local police boxes, etc. in Tokushima will have them on hand soon enough and the process of returning lost pets will be streamlined with fewer animals finding themselves at animal control.
動物病院や行政の動物管理局、一部の警察署にはマイクロチップの読み取り機が設置されています。最近では、オンラインで数千円で購入できるようになったので、徳島の地元の交番などにも早く設置され、迷子になったペットが戻ってくるプロセスが合理化され、動物管理局に持ち込まれる動物が減ることを願っています。​

Suzu is a new rescue but we have known her for over a year now. 
We were introduced to her and her family by a social welfare office that were concerned about her Suzu and her owners ability to care for her.  13 years old, extremely over-weight and a skin condition due to allergies. We visited the home numerous times over the past year to check on Suzu's well-being, trim her nails and to provide the owners preventive medications and dog food to help control Suzu's allergies. 

With one of Suzu's human family members recently hospitalized and the other refusing to be admitted for a terminal illness with worry about what would happen to Suzu, we were contacted by the government social welfare devision for advice.  After a couple of weeks visiting the home to care for Suzu and reassuring her senior owner she would be taken care of at HEART, her owner agreed to relinquish Suzu into our care.  On the day of her admission to hospital, Suzu came to HEART. We wanted them to spend as long as they could together before saying good-bye.  

Sometimes dog and cat owners don't have the resources or knowledge to do what's best for their pet, as in the case of Suzu. Her family loved her but needed support and we were happy to help keep Suzu with the people she loved for as long as we could and when that wasn't possible anymore, to provide support for both for her owner to get the medical care she needed.

In cases like this, we don't receive nor ask for donations or financial support from anyone involved. We do it for the animals and the people that care about them.
We seldom have time to post on this blog or anywhere else on the net as we are far too busy. The recognition from those we help is all we need. But we do need to get stories like Suzu's out there so we can continue our important work. ​