Happy Year of the Rooster! | ZENOAQ [Nippon Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.]

According to the oriental calendar, the sign of the zodiac for this year is the Rooster. Stores throughout the country are filled with bird motifs. Birds appear on everything from decorations to household goods. Of course we can expect special exhibitions of "live birds" to pop up in zoos and parks everywhere, but hopefully there will not be too much abuse and over-exploitation of our feathered friends.

Having started out with birds, we now move on to look at the recent trends seen in our canine companions in Japan. Currently there are several breeds that are extremely popular and virtually seen on every street corner. Chihuahuas, dachshunds, and corgis are found in many households and their popularity does not seem to be declining.

Though sometime ago, Chihuahuas were popularized by a T.V. commercial character called "Ku-chan", the other two breeds have no direct connection to a particular T.V. character nor to any special event or story pertaining to them. However on any given day, in the park or elsewhere, one is bound to run into these dogs.......and not just one or two! And quite naturally, as a result of their popularity, the health and quality of individual dogs of these breeds is becoming seriously jeopardized.

In dachshunds, for example, there have been individuals who are seriously overshot to the extent that some of the teeth in the upper jaw have dug into the gums of the lower jaw due to malocclusion causing lacerations and of course, pain. Problems of this sort, however, cannot be detected easily in a small puppy, which means that the person who buys the dog is usually totally unaware that he or she is buying a dog that may need serious medical attention in the future. Needless to say it is up to the selling party to control the quality of the animals they handle. But since more than half of the sellers, about 70%, buy their "ware" at auctions where puppy millers bring their products, this may be impossible. So, do the new owners complain? They certainly do, but when they do the sellers will point to the "fine print " in the sales contract that says some unbelievable things.

Though not all such contracts are the same, typically they would contain clauses that specify a certain time frame within which a complaint must be filed, usually shorter than a year, which means that certain genetic disorders may not become apparent "soon enough" to file such a complaint. Another typical clause would be one which states that "compensation" for damages (medial problems etc.) will not be awarded in money, i.e. veterinary expenses will not be paid, but rather in the form of exchanging a "faulty product" (the animal) with another one of the same type (breed).

What this means is that if you get a dog that is ill, disabled, or otherwise "unsatisfactory" you may return the dog to the shop and they will exchange it for, hopefully, a healthier individual. So, if a new owner happens to get a puppy that has health problems and is doing poorly, the contract says the best thing (actually the only thing) to do is to drop the poor puppy off at the pet shop and pick up another one and, of course, in the process forget all about the poor suffering creature who spent time in your home perhaps cuddling up to you and following you around for sometime. The only other choice is to take on all the problems the dog has or may have at your own expense. Most pet shops will have a sales contract of some sort that the new owner must sign in order to buy the dog and for want of the cute cuddly thing in front of their eyes most will do so without giving much thought to the "fine print".

The lawyers say that depending on the wording some of these contracts can be successfully contested in court because legally they may infringe upon the basic rights a consumer must be offered in any commercial deal. But as Japanese society as a whole is still unaccustomed to law suits and the legal system in this country is still considered time and money consuming it will be some time yet before many pet owners begin to assert their rights.

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