Winner or Loser

There was an editorial that appeared in an American paper about Barbaro, a horse. Not just a horse but the winner of the Kentucky Derby. This famous thoroughbred broke his hind leg this spring while running in the Preakness Stakes. Because of the high value of the horse the owners had decided to spend millions of dollars on veterinary care rather than to put him down as would have been the case for many other horses.

The editorial went on to state that the public showed an immense interest in the condition of Barbaro. There were countless gifts and letters sent to the horse to wish him well.

People were literally praying for his recovery. The editorial went on to say that it was extremely strange and even ironical that the masses should, all of a sudden, become interested in the well - being of a single race horse when before no one had shown much interest in the "hard world" of race horses, where the injured are put down routinely and where many of them end up worn out only to be used at the end as "industrial input".

It was interesting to note that there was a similar case in Japan recently. Similar in terms of high public interest, but in terms of the actual situation, completely the opposite.

The name of the Japanese thoroughbred is Haru - urara, her racing record, despicable, miserable, to say the least. Haru -urara was a perpetual loser, but kept running anyway happily.

People that frequented the races began to identify with her happy - go - lucky "so what?" attitude and the loser horse started to attract fans around the country. People would write letters stating how they were about to give up on life when they heard of the horse that ran endlessly in races that she was always sure to lose but never gave up, this gave them the motivation to start anew, to make something of their life again. (of course, whether or not Haru - urara asked to be placed in all those races, we will never know......)

And the interesting similarity between Haru - urara and Barbaro is that both were guaranteed a longer life than most race horses, by their owners. Haru - urara's owner decided to retire her and keep her, to live her life out in the pastures. And let it be mentioned that fans still visit her!

The moral of this story is.... if you are planning to have the entire world on your side, if you wish to have people really take up an interest in your well being there are only two ways in which to do this.

Either become a winner, big time, or really fall through to become a major loser. Anything inbetween no one really cares to think about.

Objective

Archive

2012

[January 2012]

Politics and Animal Welfare

2011

[December 2011]

The Country of the Aquarium

[November 2011]

Dangerous Dogs

[October 2011]

Revision of the Animal Welfare Law

[September 2011]

Evacuating With Pets

[August 2011]

Helping Animals After the Quake

[July 2011]

Animals in the Nuclear Evacuation Zone

[June 2011]

Animals in the Aftermath of the Great Earthquake of Eastern Japan

[May 2011]

The Great Earthquake

[March 2011]

Rabbit Island

[February 2011]

Unwanted Pets

[January 2011]

The Year of the Rabbit

2010

[December 2010]

Funerals for Pets:An Animal Welfare Issue?

[November 2010]

The Growing Pet Business Sector in Japan

[October 2010]

A Difficult Time for Zoos

[September 2010]

The Aftermath of the Foot and Mouth Disease

[August 2010]

Service Dogs in Japan

[July 2010]

Alien Species

[June 2010]

The Growing Pet Care Market

[May 2010]

The Future of Bears in Japan

[April 2010]

Resident Cards for Dogs

[March 2010]

Favorite Pets for the Older Generation

[February 2010]

Behavior Problems in Dogs

[January 2010]

Disaster-Preparedness of Pet Owners

2009

[December 2009]

Encouraging Trends in Dog Ownership

[November 2009]

"City Pets : Where do they Live and Where Do They Go"

[October 2009]

Hunting Dolphins

[September 2009]

Price are going up for Pets, Too!

[August 2009]

Current Conditions in Animal welfare

[July 2009]

Badgers and Foxes : Pranksters in Japanese Lore

[June 2009]

Revision of the Service Dog Law

[May 2009]

More Dogs and Cats

[April 2009]

The Making of Veterinarians

[March 2009]

Therapy Animals in Japan

[February 2009]

Birds and theJapan

[January 2009]

Happy Year of the Cow!

2008

[December 2008]

An International Controversy

[November 2008]

Cat Cafe's?

[October 2008]

Be Kind To Animals Week

[September 2008]

Quarantine of Dogs in Japan

[August 2008]

Microchipping in Japan

[July 2008]

Akita Dogs

[June 2008]

Pet Trends in Japan

[May 2008]

The Worries of Japanese Pet Owners

[April 2008]

Recent Pet Stats for Japan

[March 2008]

The Future of Animal Experiments

[February 2008]

Animals Attract Students

[January 2008]

The Year of the Mouse

2007

[December 2007]

Pet Food Safety in Japan

[November 2007]

Saying Good-bye to Your Pets

[October 2007]

IAHAIO Conference in Tokyo

[September 2007]

Autumn is for Rabbits

[August 2007]

The Dangers of Summer

[July 2007]

More Apartments Allowing Pets

[June 2007]

5 Years Since the Law

[May 2007]

The Cost of Pet - keeping in Japan

[April 2007]

Animal Stats for 2006

[March 2007]

Dog Breeding & Genetic Disorders in Japan

[February 2007]

Who Are the Good Pet Owners?

[January 2007]

Happy year of the wild boar!

2006

[December 2006]

Women in the Animal Professions

[November 2006]

The People's Perception of Zoos

[October 2006]

Service Dogs in Japan

[September 2006]

Pets in Natural Disasters

[August 2006]

Winner or Loser

[July 2006]

The Wildlife Controversy

[June 2006]

Dog Ownership and Age

[May 2006]

Dog Spas

[April 2006]

Retirement, Old Age, and Companion Animals

[March 2006]

Who is in charge?

[February 2006]

Pet Business in the City

[January 2006]

Year of the Dog

2005

[December 2005]

Third Year Review of the Service Dog Access Law

[November 2005]

Purebred Craze

[October 2005]

Co - existing With Crows

[September 2005]

A few more words on the Revision of the Animal Welfare Law

[August 2005]

Insects as Pets?

[July 2005]

[Animal Businesses] in the Revised Animal Welfare Law

[June 2005]

Cat Ownership in Japan

[May 2005]

Bears still appear around human communities

[April 2005]

Animal Nurses in Japan

[March 2005]

Keeping pets without house

[February 2005]

Veterinary education in Japan

[January 2005]

Happy Year of the Rooster!

2004

[December 2004]

Looking Forward to 2007

[November 2004]

Rabies, a Serious Risk to both Man and Dog

[October 2004]

Animals in Pet Shops

[September 2004]

Cats: Lucky or Unlucky

[August 2004]

Rabies Vaccinations and Pet Imports

[July 2004]

Pets Over the Net !?

[June 2004]

Menageries or Educational Institutions?

[May 2004]

The Avian Flu and School Animals

[April 2004]

Recent Pet Survey Statistics

[March 2004]

A Survey of Japanese Zoos

[February 2004]

Flying Pets

[January 2004]

The Year of the Monkey, Who Will Celebrate?

2003

[December 2003]

Save Rate of Unwanted Pets in Japan

[November 2003]

Pet Overpopulation .... What Are the Solutions?

[October 2003]

Endeavor to Register Non-Domestic Species

[September 2003]

Those popular Small Dogs

[August 2003]

The Incidence of Dog Bite Accidents

[July 2003]

Dog Parks, Cat Parks... zoos?

[June 2003]

Breed Popularity.... a headache and a heartache.

[May 2003]

Is Dog-Fighting a Valuable Cultural Tradition?

[April 2003]

8 strong needs for change in the fifth year review of the animal welfare law

[March 2003]

Trend of Motives and Concern with social manners of Pet Keeping

[February 2003]

[Dog-Runs] in Japan

[January 2003]

Euthanasia

2002

[December 2002]

Animals in Education

[November 2002]

Bullfighting in Japan

[October 2002]

The Next Revision of Animal Welfare Law

[September 2002]

Wild Bears and the Human Community

[August 2002]

Pets in Apartments

[July 2002]

Genetic disorders in purebred dogs

[June 2002]

New Access Law for Service Dogs

[May 2002]

Activity for promoting the social acceptance of pet dogs

[April 2002]

Dog Bite Accident

[March 2002]

Crows and City Life: Who is at fault?

[February 2002]

Raccoons, crows, and fetal cats...

[January 2002]

Pet Ownership in Japan

2001

[December 2001]

Veterinary Education in Japan

[November 2001]

Feral Cats in Japan

[October 2001]

Shiba Dogs

[September 2001]

ACCESS LAW TO BE INSTITUTED!

[August 2001]

Rabbit in school