⚠️Graphic photos⚠️ Cats come to our clinic for TNR with various injuries. Most of them can be treated while on the table but others have injuries far too severe and require on-going treatment. It would be unethical for us to send cats back out to recover when their lives would be at risk so we often end up rescuing the ones that don't have anyone that can take them in and care for them while they are healing. TNRのために当院を訪れる猫たちは、さまざまな怪我をしています。 そのほとんどは手術台の上で治療することができますが、中には怪我があまりにもひどく、継続的な治療が必要な猫も訪問することがあります。 このような場合、世話をしてくれる人がいないため、治療を目的として猫を保護することがあります。 It's sometimes challenging when cats are truly feral as human contact can be extremely stressful for them and we take their welfare seriously and make adjustments to suit their needs. Once recovered, we decide if they should be released to their area again. 本当に野良猫の場合、人間との接触は彼らにとって非常にストレスになるため、時には困難なこともあります。私たちは彼らの福祉を真剣に考え、彼らのニーズに合うように調整します。 回復した後は、その地域に再び放すべきかどうかを判断します。 At the end of May, Neko came in for routine trap-neuter-return. A male cat that had obviously had a hard life. Missing a paw, an old injury of some sort that had healed up naturally. His current injury was far too serious to take a chance on release. 5月末、いつものように沢山の野良猫がTNRのため来院しました。そして、その中には明らかに辛い生活を送ってきた猫がいました。前足がなく、傷口は自然治癒のみで回復したような傷跡でした。また、 今回の怪我は、リリースできるかどうか判断んが難しい深刻な怪我でした。 Many male cats come in with fight wounds and we see many abscesses. Another reason to spay and neuter cats. It will decrease roaming behaviors related to mating that results invading other cats territories and fighting. It's why many male tomcats contract FIV but luckily Neko lucked out and tested negative for the virus. 喧嘩の傷が原因で膿瘍を患っている猫を多く見かけます。去勢・避妊手術をするもうひとつの理由として喧嘩をさせない目的もあります。なぜなら、 他の猫のテリトリーに侵入したり、ケンカをしたりする交尾に関連した放浪行動が減るからです。 多くの雄猫がFIVに感染するのはそのためですが、今回の猫に関しては運良くウイルス検査は陰性でした。 Neko's abscess had burst resulting in a large open wound around his neck. The infected flesh had to be removed. ネコの膿瘍は破裂し、首の周りに大きな傷が開いた。 感染した肉を取り除かなければならなかった。 Weeks of disinfecting the area and medications was a challenge with such a feral cat but we succeed. During this time, Neko gained a good amount of weight and his general condition improved so much, we decided that he would not be released back to that hard life. He fit in well with the other cats in the room he is housed and has become a HEART rescue. 何週間にも及ぶ消毒と投薬は、このような野良猫を相手にするのは大変なことだったが、私たちは成功した。 この間、ネコの体重は順調に増え、全身状態もとても良くなったので、私たちはネコをあの厳しい生活に戻すことはしないと決めた。 彼は収容された部屋の他の猫たちともうまく馴染み、HEARTのレスキューとなった。 We don't know if he will ever get used to humans, so we give him space and work at his pace. We know that his quality of life has greatly improved while with us compared to the life he had outside. It's a commitment, but worth taking once we see a cat recover and thrive under our care.
私たちは、彼が人間に慣れるかどうかわからないので、彼にスペースを与え、彼のペースで見守りながら保護しています。 私たちと一緒にいる間、彼の生活の質は、外で過ごしていたときと比べて格段に向上していることを確信しています。 覚悟は必要ですが、私たちのケアで猫が回復し、成長するのを見れば、覚悟を決める価値はあります。
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⚠️Contains disturbing content⚠️ With 17 years in animal rescue and welfare in Tokushima under our belt, we have seen our number of neglect and abuse cases. There isn't much we can do, only document and report to the animal welfare center and the police. 徳島で17年間、動物保護と福祉活動に携わってきた私たちは、ネグレクトや虐待のケースを数多く見てきました。 私たちにできることは多くはなく、ただ記録し、動物愛護管理センターや警察に報告することだけです。 We stick to the facts and don't dramatize or sensationalize to gain on-line followers or support and we rarely, if ever, post about cases until they have been resolved. 事実に忠実でありたいため、オンラインのフォロワーや支持を得るためにドラマチックにしたりセンセーショナルにしたりはしません。 Today I need to speak out. 今日、私は発言する必要がある考えました。 In the past two months, we have been involved with and/or consulted about three cases that are obvious violations of the Japan animal welfare act. Animal control has no power to investigate or enforce the law. The police were notified in all three cases and we have received no updates or information about an investigation since, nor have we been contacted for follow up information. この2ヶ月の間に、HEARTは日本の動物愛護管理法に明らかに違反している3つのケースの相談を受けました。 徳島県動物愛護管理センターには、この法律違反を調査したり従事するように指導することしかできません。違反者に対して法律を執行する権限はありません。 3件とも警察に通報されましたが、それ以来、捜査に関する情報は入ってきませんし、追跡調査のための連絡もありません。 The most recent case is the most disturbing. An individual in Northern Tokushima prefecture doing Trap-Neuter-Return and care-giver to those cats contacted us when two of the cats were found dead and their bodies abandoned at a neighborhood garbage collection area. Both cats had been most likely poisoned, evidetnt by the bloody foam coming from their mouths and noses. 最近の事案で最も気になるものがあります。 徳島県北部で、TNR活動と猫の管理をしているボランティアさんから、2匹の猫の死体が近所のゴミ集積所に捨てられているのが見つかったと私たちに連絡がありました。 2匹とも毒殺された可能性が高く、口や鼻から吐物が出ていたということでした。 The police were called to the scene. If killing cats is too difficult for law enforcement to investigate or prove, abandoning animal corpses at a neighborhood garbage collection area must certainly also be a concern.
警察にも通報し、現場に立ち会ってもらったようですが、猫の吐物だけを持って帰り、死体の処分を通報者に依頼したとのことでした。猫を殺すことが警察にとって違法行為として捜査や立証が難しいのであれば、近所のゴミ集積場にゴミとして動物の死体を遺棄した違法行為さえも捜査が難しいのかもしれません。 I'm still gob struck that this case doesn't seem to be taken seriously. If it had been a wallet or a bicycle at that garbage site, would it have been given more consideration by law enforcement? それにしても、この事件が深刻に受け止められていないことが残念でなりません。 もし、そのゴミ集積場に財布や自転車が落ちていたら、警察はもっと真剣に考慮したでしょう。 Media wasn't interested in the story, either. 3 or 4 cases could possibly make a story. I say that two cats lives being heinously ended is media worthy and pray that no more have the same end. メディアも興味を示しませんでした。 同じようなケースが3、4件続くなら記事になるかもしれないと。 しかし、私は、2匹の猫の命が凶悪に絶たれたことは十分に報道に値すると思います。そして、これ以上同じ事案が起こらないことを祈ります。 In all the cases of abuse, neglect, and abandonment over the past 17 years, someone always throws in the statement "well, some people don't like cats and strays cause problems for them". It's not about liking or disliking cats, it's about enforcing the law. And cats are protected under the animal welfare act. この17年間、ネグレクト、虐待、飼育放棄のすべてのケースで、誰かが必ず「猫が嫌いな人もいるし、野良猫は人に迷惑をかけるから」という言葉を聞いてきました。しかし、この問題は 猫が好きか嫌いかではなく、法律を遵守するかどうかということだと思います。 Some people don't like wearing seat-belts but the police enforce that law. 例えば、交通法で人命を守るシートベルトをするのを嫌がる人もいますが、警察はこの法律を遵守し、違反者に対しては切符を切っています。 It's 2023 and although Tokushima has improved leaps and bounds in animal welfare, we still have a long way to go if we can't rely on law enforcement or the media. 活動開始時に比べて徳島県は動物福祉の面で飛躍的に向上してきていると感じますが、法律の執行機関やメディアに頼ることができないのであれば、まだまだ先が長いと感じさせられます。 I hope I never have to write a post like this again. Something has to change in our prefecture. このような記事を書く必要がなくなるを願います。 徳島県をもっと変えていかなければ。 月初旬、当院の避妊手術を利用されている方から、高齢の男性が緊急入院したため、友人のペットが取り残されていると相談の連絡がありました。
退院しても飼育できないため、小型犬3匹と猫十数匹を保護する必要がありました。最初の訪問時には、9匹の子猫と10匹の成猫を数えることができましたが、臆病で隠れている猫が多かったため、正確な数を把握するのは困難でした。 その後、私たちは9匹の子猫(保護猫ルームボロンさんに協力していただき引き取られた)と17匹の成猫を保護しました。避妊去勢手術とワクチン接種を済ませ、FIV/FeLVの検査もすべて陰性でした。 健康状態は良好ですが、社会化されていないため、人慣れして里親を募集するまでには時間がかかると思われます。 犬3匹はみんな友好的で、少し年をとっていますが、みんな里親が見つかりました。成猫は、最終的に22頭いました。 残りの5匹はなかなか捕まえられませんでしたが、今日ようやく捕まえることができました。 この短期間に22匹の成猫を保護することは、私たちにとっもチャレンジでした。保護猫たちが里親を見つけるペースは緩く、保護スペースも限られています。 私たちの里親募集について広く知っていただくために、皆様のご協力をお願いいたします。また、物資や費用のご協力いただけると幸いです。 At the beginning of June, we got a call from an individual who uses our spay clinic, concerned about a friend's animals that were left unattended after the senior man had a stroke and was hospitalized. Three small breed dogs and multiple cats needed rescue. On our initial visit on we could count 9 kittens and 10 adults but it was difficult to get accurate numbers as many of the cats were timid and hiding. We have since rescued the 9 kittens (who gratefully were taken in by a local cat rescue) and 17 adult cats that have been spay and vaccinated and have all tested negative for FIV/FeLV. They are generally in good health but are unsocialized and will take some time to get used to people. The three dogs are all friendly and have all found homes despite being a little older. The 4 remaining cats proved difficult to catch, but we were able to catch them finally today. Having to take in 22 adult cats in such a short time span has been a challenge for us. Our cat adoptions are at a low and space is limited. We would appreciate your help in spreading the word about our adoptable animals and we would be grateful for in-kind and monetary donations. We were grateful to receive these posters from the 5th grade students at Shujitsu Elementary School in Okayama. For their English class focusing on dogs and pets, they decided to create adopt a dog posters and were inspired by our mission and what HEART has set out to achieve. It is encouraging that young students have and interest and concern about animal issues and are hopeful that their generation will bring about the changes needed to advance Japan in animal welfare. Please see their wonderful posters below and thank you students of Shujitsu Elementary School! This kitten season seems to be going on forever. We get calls everyday to rescue, but it's impossible for us to take in every one that needs help. It's a case by case basis, with priority given to the ones at most risk.
This little one was lying motionless in the middle of the road in an area that we are active with TNR. He came in with severe eye discharge, dehydrated and with a low body temperature and was very, very hungry. It was a spay day at our clinic, and three veterinarians on staff so we could immediately give the treatment he so desperately needed. Not all rescues are successful, but this little one bounced back quickly and turns out to be the cutest little kitten that is thriving! 愛護管理センターのホームページに掲載された犬の写真がSNSで拡散され、「犬を保護してほしい」というメールや電話、メッセージが後を絶ちません。善意であることはわかりますが、それが役に立つことはほとんどありません。
私たちは、定期的にセンターから犬を引き出しています。どの犬たちがどういった状況でいるのか承知しております。もちろん全てを助けることができればいいのですが、助けられないこともあり、心が痛むのです。 先週は7匹の犬を引き取りましたが、他の犬たちも助けることができるのかどうか、わからないまま無力を感じながら帰りました。 シェルターが満杯になると、レスキューを必要とする沢山の動物たちを受け入れるスペースも資源もありません。 HEARTには、不妊手術を済ませワクチン、マイクロチップ、健康診断を終え直ぐに里子にでる準備ができている子もいれば、現在病気で治療を受けている子もいます。人懐っこくて、愛情深いのに長い間ご縁が見つからない子、 スタッフやボランティアの努力で、人見知りや臆病な性格を克服した子、まだ触られたり、リードを付けて歩くことができず、根気よく社会性を身に付けている子たちなどいろんな状況の子たちが合わせて120頭ほどいます。 私たちが助けられることは有限です。管理センターに入る動物の数は限りがありません。HEARTで里親を待っている動物たちのほとんどが徳島県動物愛護管理センターから保護された動物たちです。 保護前の写真はSNSで拡散され、保護された後は忘れ去られてしまうようです。 動物たちを助けるために、ぜひご協力をお願いします。 どんなことに役立つの? 保護された動物たちを共有すること、ボランティアや寄付をすること。 HEARTにいる間、シェルターのスペース、リソース、ケアするためのマンパワーは、管理センターからずっとの家を探し始めるために、より多くの命を救うことを意味します。 (⚠️GRAPHIC PHOTOS⚠️) 4月上旬、前方を走っていた車に轢かれた猫を保護し、取り乱した方からご連絡をいただきました。 そのドライバーはそのまま走り去りましたが、彼女ともう一人の親切な通行人が猫を拾って動物病院に連れて行きました。 回復しても行き場がないため、私たちに助けを求めてきたのです。 私たちが日頃からお世話になっている動物病院へ搬送しました。 In early April, a distraught caller contacted us after rescuing a cat that had been hit by the driving in front of her. That driver sped off, but she and another kind passerby picked up the cat and brought it to a veterinary clinic. With no where for the cat to go if it recovered, we were asked for help. We transferred the cat to a local vet clinic where we regularly have our animals treated. マトリックスの目はソケットから飛び出しており、顎を骨折し、頭部外傷の疑いがありました。 しかし、素晴らしいスタッフと獣医師が、眼球を摘出する手術に耐えられるだけの状態にまで回復させてくださいました。 自力で食べることができず、顎の骨折が治るまで特別なケアが必要でした。 Matrix’s eye was protruding from the socket, he suffered a broken jaw and had a suspected head injury. It was touch and go but the fabulous staff and veterinarians got him healthy enough to withstand surgery to remove his eye. He was unable to eat on his own and needed special care until his jaw fracture healed. 約2ヶ月の入院の後、マトリックスは日曜日に退院し、元気にしています。 少しシャイですが、人懐っこく、愛情深い子です。 ドライは食べられませんが、ソフトフードが大好きで、食欲旺盛です。
私たちは、マトリックスの健康回復を手助けできたことをうれしく思い、彼の旅に関わったすべての人に感謝しています。 After almost two months hospitalized, Matrix was discharged on Sunday and is doing well. He is a little shy but is friendly and affectionate. He is unable to eat dry kibble but loves his soft food. We are happy to have helped Matrix find his way back to health and are grateful to everyone involved in his journey❤️ Thank you for all your support and encouragement in 2022! Our rescue/re-homing numbers for 2022 are down about 100 from the year past but still pretty good. 304 animals rescued (164 dogs, 138 cats and 1 rabbit) with 243 animals out (101 dogs, 100 cat and 1 rabbit adopted and 41 dogs transferred to other rescue organizations). We are off to a good start to 2023 with 5 dogs/puppies already out to homes! Billy Bob left on the 4th with his new owner, a family member of Fuji kun's owner so the two dogs were reunited. A road trip to Gunma prefecture to deliver Riley and Mika. Stopping on the way back to bring Takuma to Aichi and send Lailah to Miyagi from Itami airport. We are still full, full, full of puppies so it's been full on animal care for me while I hold the fort at home and at the clinic. We are extremely glad to have long-term volunteers return now that the borders are open. Five more pairs of helping hands this month and we are so grateful. It's been so hard at the shelter for the past two years as local volunteers are few and far between as it has always been. I can't be sure what keeps them away, maybe a difference in what's perceived as volunteering, or the actual hard work of a shelter volunteer or a misunderstanding of what rescue at this scale entails? That said, we are very thankful to the few dedicated locals we see regularly. We've had a couple critical rescues in the past 10 days that I'll introduce in another blog post. There's always so much gong on, it's often too much to explain! Wishing you all a wonderful 2023 and we'll do our best again this year for the animals and to keep you updated.
We are constantly receiving rescue requests and it gets overwhelming sometimes. We can't help all the animals in need. Space, manpower and resources are always limited and we can only do what we can with what we have. Our days and nights are also filled with running the rescue and time is also a scarcity so it's impossible to get back to every e-mail and message that comes our way and we apologize for that. One such e-mail sat in our inbox in mid-August about a dog hanging around an abandoned mountain building. I glanced at the photos but left it as is as we are full to the brim with dogs waiting for homes. Over one hundred, actually. I passed it off as another feral dog able to survive on it's own. A nagging feeling kept me returning to the photos. Where were the other dogs? Isn't is strange that a feral would stick around a building alone? Soon enough, she was captured by animal control so we went to meet her there. She was obviously not feral. So she came to HEART. I named her Juno. She is the sweetest of sweetest dogs. People friendly, dog friendly, just an all around wonderful dog. She likes her sleep though, and that's the only time I've seen her get a bit pissed off but I totally get that. So the moral of the story is that there are too, too many people that just want to get their animal problem off their hands and guilty conscious. And put it unto the ones doing rescue work. I've learned how to say no in a lot of cases but it doesn't make my guilt for not saving that one or two or sometimes 20. I think what put me off from the start was the initial e-mail. The gist being "I have two dogs and I can't possibly do more. There must be someone that can give this dog a home. Why can't HEART do something to get this dog into a home". I wanted to respond with "I am responsible for over 100 dogs at the moment and 70 cats. I can't possibly do more. There must be homes for the friendly and vetted animals in our care. Why are people so selfish and can't do more for the animals in front of their eyes." Since Juno came to HEART, we haven't heard from the e-mailer. I'm assuming there wasn't donation of any kind, either. This is from experience, but I apologize if the e-mailer did contribute to Juno's fees for pulling her from the Kanri center, her spay surgery, microchip, vaccinations, heart-worm blood test, flea/tick treatment, de-worming, food for the past three months, electric bills to keep her cool during the hot months and now warm during the cool ones, rent to pay for the roof over her head, etc. etc. etc. Juno due to fly out to her new home on the 23rd. She is one of the lucky mid-sized adult dogs that could find a home. It's not so easy. Just ask the other 100 of our mid-sized adult dogs. Some of them pure-bred. Some of them with so much love to give. We all wonder why they haven't found a home yet. My only answer is that it must be destiny. I considered not sharing this because there are so many critics out there waiting to jump on us for any slight but it's too good of a story not to share. My stories are always long and complicated, certainly, as that is my life in animal rescue.
Remus and Pan Pan were brothers that were abandoned over 3 years ago at a park that we have been doing TNR and rescue at for the past 5 years. They were about 4 months old at the time and two roommates from Sweden fostered them until they left Tokushima to return home. Remus and Pan Pan then moved to our volunteer house where they lived with our long-term volunteers. Remus was the outgoing one, Pan Pan the shy one. Both too smart for their own good and with one outside escape and capture, they got a taste for the great outdoors and learned to open doors and windows. Learned to check all the doors and windows to find one to open, and then because we were extra careful to make sure the windows were hatched closed, learned to pull the hatch to open the windows. At first, we always panicked when they got out but we'd leave the window open and they would return and all was well again. When COVID began, our long-term volunteer pool dried up and Remus and Pan Pan spent a lot of time alone in the volunteer house besides daily visits to care for them. I would also go to stay with them overnight a couple of days a week but they were lonely. The outside was enticing and their escape artist activity intensified. And then we were blessed with a long-term volunteer from Germany during the pandemic that jumped through hoops to get here. All was well in Remus and Pan Pan's world again for 9 months and then they were alone with daily visits and a couple nights of human companionship again. You can guess what happened. The window was always left opened for their return. They did, but it was always just one of them and never both of them at the same time so the window had to be left open. And then there was only Remus returning and no sightings of Pan Pan for months and months. We set traps, searched the neighborhood, checked with police and animal control. Half a year later and I accepted that he was dead. There was no way a shy cat with no experience living outdoors could survive. Remus was a constant during that time and was usually inside inviting all the other stray cats in through the open window. Or if he wasn't inside, I'd call out to him and he'd do his loud meowing and come running. Then this past summer, Remus's fur started thinning and he'd lost some weight. I thought it may have been an allergic reaction to the new flea/tick preventive but a vet visit and echo showed a mass in his stomach. It was a tumor and he was sent home with meds. He wasn't feeling well and spent his time resting and sleeping and had no interest in finding a way outside. About ten days later, he made a prison break, stayed out overnight, returned home and then passed away. My human brain told me that he must have had one last fruitless look for his brother, Pan Pan, and then gave up on life. Fast forward to today. Almost a year since Pan Pan disappeared. A client brings a rescue they want to keep as their own to a local vet clinic and the vet suggests to check for a microchip. He has one. It's Pan Pan. We are contacted. He's healthy and doing well. I was in disbelief and once I got my bearings have to reconsider some things I thought to be true. One being that a cat raised strictly indoors can't survive on their own outside. For almost a year. Owners should never give up on a lost cat. Other of my beliefs are reinforced. Microchipping is so so important. Not for just the animals but for the people. I am so, so relieved that he is alive and well. Ear-tipping should only be reserved for feral or street cats. I wonder if Pan Pan would have been rescued or checked if he had one. And the story I I told myself when Remus went out that last time. Now I wonder if he was saying good-bye to his brother for the last time. Another made up human brain story. We do not give animals they credit they deserve. They are not little humans. And I so respect that. They far surpass our resilience to life's difficulties. They don't live in the past. They don't dream about the future. They live in the now. We, humans, have a lot to learn. (and I'm soooo grateful for that microchip and call to let me know PanPan is ok after all this time❤️) |