TOKYO – I am overcome with an odd sense of ownership as I take a morning stroll down Yoyogi Park with my rented toy poodle, Kurumi. It almost feels like a routine day.I hesitate. “A girl, I think,” I say.Dog Heart, the dog cafe where I rented Kurumi, is located a stone’s throw away from Yoyogi Park, one of Tokyo’s largest.
While the exact number of animal cafes in Japan is unknown, a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Conservation Science and Practice in January 2023 surveyed a total of 142 exotic animal cafes in Japan by visiting their websites and social media accounts. In Japanese, kurumi means “walnut” – an apt name for the small, brown furball I paid 3,800 yen to spend an hour with, outside the confines of the cafe.
Dog rentals at Dog Heart pet cafe range from 3,800 yen to 5,000 yen an hour for one dog, depending on size. ST PHOTO: SARAH STANLEY The dog rental document the writer had to sign stated that she had to pay for the cost of the dog should it get lost or injured, or die under her watch. ST PHOTO: SARAH STANLEYMy boyfriend and I take Kurumi for a brisk walk through the park. Neither of us own pets, so the novelty of walking a dog – in a foreign country, no less – gives us a taste of what pet ownership could be like.
“I missed my dog, but through this, I got to interact with a similar-looking one and experience life like a local pet owner. It was super fun,” she says. In Harajuku, the busy Takeshita Street is lined with all kinds of animal cafes that feature dogs, micro pigs, otters and more. ST PHOTO: SARAH STANLEYstudy published in Conservation Science and Practice argues that such cafes may have consequences on biodiversity as patrons might be encouraged to purchase such animals. It also raised concerns about animal welfare, among other issues.
Despite the ethical issues, some patrons say these animal interactions have changed their perceptions. Observing the pigs up close allowed him to see them in a new light, which led to him cutting down on pork in his diet. A Mipig spokesperson says that the cafe is “a kindergarten for pigs, where they are trained to live with people” and that all pigs are reared to be pets, with none that go unsold. Pigs stay in the cafe until they are sent to their new family, which explains the varying ages of pigs in the cafe.
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Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »