Stories of Animals at Animal Friends Niigata

A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far! As of July 21, 2010, we are only 1 million yen away from reaching our target which gives me hope that we can achieve our target. We don’t have much time left, so please help us to save these wonderful animals by contributing what you can.

Meg (Yorkshire Terrier) and Louis (Poodle)

Meg, going for the off-the-shoulder look and Louis standing by an aging friend!

Both are elderly dogs destined for the gas chamber and rescued from Niigata City Hokenjo (pound). Nobody wanted to adopt them because of their age and health problems. Meg is a very tiny dog, probably one of the victims of the current trend to breed unnaturally small “teacup” animals. She is more or less blind, but has no trouble finding her food or a cosy place to sleep.

Louis had a tumour, and suffers from heart problems and epilepsy, for which he is on medication. Despite this, and stern warnings that he will seriously damage his health further, he regularly gets over-excited and barks at other dogs, people, cats, and anything else passing by! He also dislikes being brushed, which means that achieving the pampered poodle look is an utter impossibility. As a result, he alternates between looking like a shaggy permed
70’s rock star, or a shaved sheep.

Fuma (Akita)

A young Akita (probably less than a year old) tied and abandoned on the bank of the Agano River. A sensitive dog by nature, he ended up in the Niigata City hokenjo (pound), where he was classified as unsuitable for adoption because he growled at people. This is where I first saw him, and it was obvious that rather than pure agression he was (understandably) highly traumatized by his experiences, and was reacting defensively to a scary situation. My husband and I, and an experienced dog trainer friend went several times to the hokenjo, giving him treats and getting him to trust us, which eventually he did. We were therefore able to rescue him from certain death. He has proved, as we thought, to be a sweet, sensitive dog. He needs more training, and like most young males enjoys a bit of rough play (the staff have endured a few holes in their clothing as a result!), but we are training him out of his bad habits, and hope soon to find him his own permanent home.

Isabella
Animal Friends Niigata