Increasing Interest in the Raising of Dogs and Cats in Collective Housing Construction/Real Estate Agencies, Management Unions,
Administrations are Coming to Grips with the Problems More and More - |
Thanks to the great many requests already 6,000
copies of the textbook, "Together with Companion Animals — Living
with Dogs and Cats in Collective Housing," have been distributed.
On February 1 of
this year, "The Companion Animal Research Center" distributed
the textbook on how to live with dogs and cats in collective housing,
"Together with Companion Animals — Living with Dogs and Cats
in Collective Housing." Distribution began at a symposium held
in Kobe on February 1 with the theme of "Building a Town for
People and Animals to Live Together," with about 6,000 copies
being distributed in 2577 cases as of the present. The issue was also
taken up in newspapers and magazines. The topic was introduced in
such places as the February 19, 1998 edition of the Asahi Shimbun(National
Daily) which ran an article in their family column entitled, "Train
Pet Owners," about seeking better relationships between pet owners
and the people who live around them; the February 10, 1998 Osaka edition
of the Yomiuri Shimbun(National Daily)which ran an article entitled,
"Collective Housing Which Allows Keeping of Pets," focusing
on the introduction of keeping pets in public collective housing;
and in the April 29 edition of Recruit's Housing Information Weekly
magazine which ran the article, "Pets are Members of the Family!
Condominiums Where Pets are Allowed."
The distribution locations consisted of:
condominium management unions (104 cases), condominium management
companies (475 cases), construction/real estate companies (306 cases),
administrations (151 cases), animal related organizations and veterinarians
(107 cases) other requests by the general public (1371 cases), distribution
through the Companion Animal Information and Research Newsletter (404
cases) and others (43 cases) (as of April 30). Mr. Yasuo Yamaguchi,
director of the supervising Japanese Society of Humane Care of Animals
said, "The growth of the awareness that the communal life of people
share with animals must be the reason why we received this many requests.
There are many problems involved in actually raising animals in collective
housing and I hope that by reading this textbook people will gain
proper understanding." This time we should inquire of the organization
that distributed the textbook and consider the present state of people
living with pets in collective housing and how the future should be.
77% of Real Estate Agencies Plan for Condominiums Allowing
Pets -According to a Recruit Survey.
Ms. Naomi Akashi, vice chief editor of
Housing Information Weekly (published by Recruit) said, "Up until
now we have never taken up the issue of condominiums that allow people
to keep pets. Even though readers wanted information, there were very
few condominiums allowing people to keep pets. However, as of this
fall this greatly changed. In the questionnaire that our company sends
to real estate agencies we asked the question about plans for the
future regarding condominiums allowing pets. Last year, only 20% of
the companies responded that they were planning to take measures for
pets, but this year it was 77%. The change was clear to see."
In 1994, with an interest rate of 3% and stable land prices, condominium
and housing supply began to liven up, but at present there is a feeling
of over competition. Moreover, in order to take care of the diversified
needs of consumers, every real estate agency is independently looking
for additional value to appeal to customers and recommending product
development. Condominiums allowing pets, as well as condominiums where
people can have gardens and condominiums providing more storage space
and the like, show that the attitude of the real estate business has
greatly changed.
In the 6 pages of the special report on
condominiums allowing pets in the April 29 volume of Housing Information
Weekly, 2 pages were also devoted to articles about housing information.
"Requests
for information continued, and we received many telephone calls from
readers saying they had been waiting for this kind of information,"
said Ms. Yukiko Ikari from the editing department.
"There are many picky rules in collective housing but it is important that
they all be obeyed. It is also necessary for tenants to communicate among themselves."
(Ms. Ikari)
Examining the Support System of Animal Specialists at Collective Housing Allowing Pets Started by Public Management.
Administration grappling with this matter
is becoming very detailed. In April, the first public housing allowing
pets, the Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake Recovery Public Housing, made
99 units available to tenants.
"Currently, management unions are investigating
the creation of support organizations from the point of view of pet
ownership. For example, when there is a complaint about the barking
of a dog, it is treated as a training problem without investigating
the cause. However, the dog may be sick, or there might be a problem
with the building... With no animal specialist within the management
union, they do not know how best to handle the problem so all they
do is shut the pet up. In order to cope with this problem, there are
plans to create a support organization centered on dog trainers, veterinary
associations, animal welfare societies and so on," according to Mr.
Toyohiko Kikuchi, chief clerk of the Animal Health Office of the Hyogo
Prefecture Health Department. Companion Animal Research Center textbook
will be distributed at a symposium which will be held in the middle
of May.
Also this textbook is used and presented
at a lecture held by a local committee. "Now we are planning on holding
animal training classes aimed at residents of the local community.
I thought it was necessary for us to study more about how to assist
people in training so we held an animal training class in March."
(Mr. Yasushi Sekine, Food and Health Chief and Assistant Chief Veterinary
Medical Technician for the Northern Prefecture Office of the Fukushima
Prefecture Health Department)
The Circumstances Surrounding Collective Housing Differs Whether
the Community Has Interchanges between Residents or Not
What is actually happening at collective housing? This time we
asked pet owners at two pioneering collective housing facilities that have organized
groups for pet owners about the current state of this situation. The first place
was the Hiroo Garden Hills in Hiroo, Tokyo. Hiroo is the area where foreign embassies
and such are located and about 1,200 families live in Hiroo Garden Hills beginning
with the sales of lots around 12 years ago. It was an unusual case in which there
were rules allowing pets from the onset. The pet chairman, Mr. Hiroshi Sakai,
speaks about some of the problems in collective housing allowing pets.
"We still have problems with dog training. That is why we distributed the
textbooks to committee members for them to read. Even now we have people coming
just to clean up the urine stains in the area. Of course there are people bringing
in dogs from the outside, but when dogs are not trained properly, many people
are annoyed with the dogs which are left tied in front of shops by people who
go shopping and take the dog for a walk at the same time. So this becomes one
cause of trouble that leads to bad feeling among neighbors. Their lifestyles among
the neighbors are completely different. They don't get along. Because they can't
communicate well with their neighbors, their persistence in their own opinions
just drives them further apart from each other... To begin with I think it is
necessary to educate the pet owners through animal training classes and bulletins."
On the other hand, for the Green Coop Senju in Senju which is also in Tokyo's
Shitamachi, the story is slightly different. "We don't have any major problems.
In our case, there is a membership fee of 12,000 yen and an additional deposit
of 50,000 yen per pet paid to the management union. I think it's a little expensive,
but that is what is necessary to handle complaints and take care of cleaning,
and also maybe the high deposit causes pet owners to be aware of their responsibilities.
Now under the supervision of the management union, we are budgeting for pet groups
and holding animal training classes. In addition there is a condominium residents
council and the residents are taking part in festivals. This seems to be very
effective in maintaining good relations with our neighbors." (Mr. Mamoru
Iida, Pet Committee Chairman for Green Coop Senju)
There still is no common basis in Japan for people living together with animals
— a framework has not been created. The history of people keeping pets in
large cities, and especially in collective housing, is very short. It is necessary
for pet owners to have the correct perspective about their animals in order for
everyone to be comfortable living together. "The Companion Animal Information
and Research Center" believes that organizing pet owners' group to clarify
each problem, as illustrated in the 2 examples of collective housing introduced
here, is the first step towards creating a society where people and animals can
live together.
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