Here in Okinawa, there is an epidemic of stray and abandoned cats and dogs. Japan has a string of government run animal control centers but very few private organizations that help save found animals. Recent statistics show that 61% of dogs caught or turned into the government run shelters are strays and of those 41% are reclaimed or returned to the owner, 7% are adopted, and 52% are euthanized. Japan mostly focuses on population control instead of rehabilitating and finding them new homes. The private organizations that do exist are very often full to capacity or are unable to help financially. The government provides no tax incentives for charitable contributions. The government-run shelters typically will not adopt out animals either.

We are located on beautiful Okinawa. The largest of the Japanese islands. Here the population of stray and abandoned cats and dogs are even worse. There is only one government shelter on the island and a few local and American rescues that work hand in hand. For a rescue to be able to pull dogs out of Ozato, the government run shelter, they must have a strong relationship and agree to follow very strict policies. Unfortunately, many hoarding and puppy mill situations come up, often times with 15-45 dogs being pulled out. If rescues are unable to help these animals they are placed into gas chambers after a week hold. There are puppy stores located all over the island, and the living conditions and treatment of the dogs stuck in the puppymill system are horrific.

Our goal is to save these dogs from the poor conditions they are in and prevent their untimely death by covering their vetting costs and intaking them with registered non-profit rescue organizations that often times can't help due to financial limitations. We rescue the dogs, raise money for vetting, and focus on getting them medically up to date, as well as, work on any behavioral concerns. Once up to date, we intake them through the rescues to be made available for adoption. In doing so, there would be no added financial burden for the rescues but there would be a formal adoption process and record keeping for the animals so they do not end up back in the same situation they were rescued from. The rescues keeps up with the animals up until they have made it off island and have a tried and true process for this. It is our passion to rescue dogs and we are doing our best to help as many as we can.

Current Rescue Dogs:

Peanut
We picked up Peanut from a farm near Nago. There were 22 dogs total with most of them still puppies. Peanut gave birth to a litter just 4 months ago. When we got her she was covered from head to toe in ticks. It took 4 days to get the last of the ticks off. The picture above is about halfway through the tick treatment. You can still see so many on her. She was long haired but had to be shaved to see what we were dealing with. Her first couple baths were completely black with dirt. She was very shy at first but has come around so much and now greets everyone that crosses paths with her. She is estimated to be about 3-4 years old. Peanut was also showing signs of an infection in her bloodwork due to the skin irritation and amount of ticks. On her most recent bloodwork you can see her CRP value is off the charts. It is over 7.0 which is an indication of a possible serious infection. She has been put on new antibiotics to see if that helps. We fear she may have pyometra, a uterine infection, from giving birth in poor conditions. This infection if left untreated can be deadly.


Ace

Ace was found as a stray on the streets. He was seen often over a 3 month period before we rescued him. The vet estimates his age at 7 years old. When we rescued Ace, he was extremely underweight and anemic. Since then, he is following a strict feeding schedule to help him gain a healthy weight. Ace is heartworm positive and began the slow kill treatment and is also receiving iron medication for his anemia. He developed coughing fits and was hacking up saliva.A trip to the vet uncovered that he has a weak trachea and also had an x-ray done that showed he had an enlarged heart due to the severe heartworm. He was put on 5 different medications and is now down to 3. He is officially no longer anemic! Unfortunately his most recent bloodwork now shows he has a severe infection that is located in his throat that he is currently on medication for.  Once he is officially healed from the infections and is heartworm free, he will then be neutered.




Zorro

This sweet boy has received loads of attention all over Facebook! He was dumped by his owner and was wandering the same road on the side of a mountain for 2 days looking for his family. He's about 2 years old and has a lot of energy. We are taking him to the vet for a heartworm  test, fecal test, dewormer, vaccines, and neuter this week and will update with his results!