The good, the bad and the ugly....

I love the city that I am living in and love living in Japan. Here it comes. The 'but' statement. But, Japan really has to do something about animal rights. I see stray cats everywhere, and obviously there is no real incentive here for people to fix their animals so they don't reproduce. There seems to be no real place for people to take stray animals. Here is a sad story with pictures attached. Well, it sort of ended up happy. One day after work (quite late) I was picking up my bicycle so I could ride home and I heard a very strange sound. The tiniest of 'mew mew's coming from the garbage area of the building where I park my bike. So I went over and took a look. Someone had put 5 kittens in a box, and dumped them in the garbage collection area. I nearly had an apoplexy right there. Who would put kittens in the garbage???? Kittens are not garbage. And if you are dumb enough or just not motivated enough to get your cat fixed, then for gods sake find homes for the kittens or take them to the appropriate place - AKA an animal shelter. There are a few in Osaka although few and far between. I called my boss because I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave them there, but I couldn't take them home at the time either as I had to go to my other job right after I got changed. He kindly took them home for the night - bought some catmilk and fed the little guys with a small bottle. I picked them up the next day and we took them to the ward office the next day (it was a weekend and we couldn't take them any earlier) where they told us they would take them to a shelter. I was angry, confused, and well, mostly angry. I even cried when they took the little guys. What kind of person throws a living creature in the trash? Anyways, it made me want to change things here in Osaka. Inform people about vetrinary practices that are common in all other 1st world countries and see what I can do to encourage vets to give good prices for basic services here. I'm not sure whether I will get anywhere with this, but its something I'd like to do. Here are some pics.