Our feedback

I was glad that most of my classmates said that my presentation was very informative and easy to understand, but I thought that I could’ve done better if I had more time to prepare my PowerPoint and my video. I read off my script the most time so if I had more time I think I could have done better. One of a feedback from a classmate said that sentences on my PowerPoint was so long, so if I had make it shorter and concise, I thought the classmates were able to understand more about dogs and cats issues.
From doing this presentation, I learnt a lot about the background of pet shops, bad breeders and pet takers who abuse and put dogs and cats in harsh conditions. After doing the research about this I thought I would never get a dog from a pet shop, and I would do something to save dogs and cats from harsh conditions in the future. I hope people will expand their knowledge about pets problems.

From Yumeno

Perspective of a veterinarian

As a veterinarian, I have the difficult job of euthanizing unwanted or poorly cared for pets.  Many people acquire pets and do not take care of them.  Their lack of providing adequate care leads to strays, damage to our communities, and spreading of diseases.  Putting unwanted pets down is my most difficult job.  I strongly encourage people to have their pets spayed and nurtured.  Also, I recommend people become educated about the proper responsibilities and skills necessary for taking care of cats and dogs before becoming a pet owner. 

Perspective of a person who doesn't own (and never has owned any) cats or dogs

It seems most people in my neighborhood own a dog, and I also see many many stray cats as well. First of all, i wanna talk about the dog owners. Some of them don't even take good care of their dogs. They don't pick up the waste and let the dogs bother or even attack others. Maybe not everyone should be adopting or buying these animals.  Maybe euthanizing strays and animals at shelters is for the best. As for the stray cats in my neighborhood, they trespass on my property and leave waste in parks and other public areas. If they are causing so much trouble for us, the people, I don't think it can be helped that stray cats get euthanized as well.

Perspective of a Breeder

As a breeder i have been breeding dogs and cats according to demands from individuals for the behaviors and physical characteristics they want.For example, people just find it cuter when their Yorkie or pug has a shorter tail so cutting them off would be essential as well as ears for certain types.  Without me (breeders in general there would be a lot more random selection of behaviors and characteristics of dogs and cats. Many of these randomly produced cats and dogs may not have the behavioral and characteristics that individuals want. this could result in more stray animals, more animals euthanized., and less appreciation for dogs and cats.

Perspective of a activist from animal protection group

I am a activist from a animal protection group and I have been a activist for more than 10 years. I have been working to save the animals from pet shops and bad breeders in Japan. I own a dog and cat protection house to adopt the dogs and cats from pet shops or breeders to help them live in a better condition and find a new owner. Animal shelters have a strict rules to adopt the dog or a cat like family structure, the size of a house, lifestyles, income, what kind of job they have and how they will look after the dog or a cat. Not all organizations have those above rules but most of the organizations have those strict rules, so people tend to avoid adopting from those organizations or people could end up giving up to adopt from those organizations.
I want lot's of dogs and cats to be happy, so I don't give people to follow a strict rule. I only have a rule of loving the dog until the end of it's life, and it is able to have a dog or a cat at the house people live in(as some houses don't allow dogs or cats), and they have enough money and time for looking after dogs and cats. I thought of making more strict rules for peoples who want to adopt the dog like not letting people adopt the dog or a cat if they live alone, but I want lot's of dogs and cats to be happy and it doesn't mean that if people live alone dogs and cats can't be happy.
I visit the pet takers and bad breeders to save the dogs as much as possible even though they disagree as they can still 'use' the dog to breed and sell. We even pay the pet takers for us to adopt the dogs. Some dogs need to hospitalize for a treatment as the condition is too bad at the pet takers.
I want more people to know more about the backgrounds of pet shops and learn the advantages of adopting dogs from shelters or good breeders.

Perspective of a dog owner and a animal lover

As a dog owner and a animal lover, I disagree to pet shops and some bad breeders. Pet shops give dogs to a pet taker which adopts them to sell, or give to people who want the dog as a family. Pet takers get money by adopting the dogs from pet shops and breeders, but those dogs live in a harsh condition as they don't get enough care. Some get Dermatitis(a disease on skin), Anemia, Hypoglycemia from malnutrition.
The bad breeders force the dogs to get pregnant for more baby dogs. It is very bad for the dogs health and it may cause infectious diseases for baby dogs. It's a breeders selfish decision for making the dog pregnant, as they are just thinking about the profit they make.

The breeders often force inbreeding(breeding with relatives or within a family) which leads to mental health problems or diseases for babies. If people stop buying dogs from pet shops, those awful breeders and pet shops number will eventually decrease, leading to more dogs and cats being saved. Some people believe that it is better to get a dog from a pet shop but it is actually better to get them from a shelter or a good breeder. I think it is important to  change people's impression about shelters and breeders to think about where they get a new dog from.　

30 research questions

30 Research Questions that we will answer during this semester

1. When were the first animal shelter created?
2. How many shelters are there in the world?
3. How many animals are sent to shelters every year?
4. What are the reasons why people send their dogs or cats to shelters?
5. How can the government or the society do to reduce the number of dogs or cats send to shelters?
6. How many animals are euthanized a year?
7. What are the alternatives to shelters?
8. What does other countries do to save the animals in shelters?
9. What is the history of animal protection in Japan?
10. How many people get dogs and cats from shelters?
11. What is the problem of shelters?
12. What are the benefits of shelters?
13. What happens to the dogs which weren't sold at the pet shop?
14. What are  the examples of bad breeders?
15. What country have the less number of animal in shelters?
16. How much money is spent by governments euthanizing animals? 
17. How much money is spent on shelters? 
18. What type of programs are there to adopt stray animals?
19. What medical care is given for animals caught in the wild?
20. How many animals are turned over by owners to shelters?
21. How many pet shops are there in Japan?
22. How many pet shops are there in other countries?
23. What is the ratio of adopted from shelter pets to bought from commercial sources?
24. What are some of the reasons why some Japanese prefer pure bread and store bought pets?
25. What percent of commercial pets are sold spayed or neutered? 
26. What percent of shelter dogs are adopted spayed or neutered?
27. How many dogs are there in Japan?
28. How many cats are there in Japan?
29. What is a good estimate of stray dogs in Japan?
30. What is a good estimate of stray cats in Japan?