Not sure if this is the right Japan-related sub for this, but I need some advice. TL;DR at the bottom.
For context, I moved to Nakano-ku 3 months ago. Since moving here, I regularly walk to the station for work around the same time every day, the same time as a senior lady takes her dog (unleashed) on a walk. Same street every day. The dog is a large, very fluffy male Samoyed. I noticed from a couple of months ago that it always walks far and slowly behind it’s owner, and she walks REALLY slow. I looked more closely when walking past shortly thereafter that it walks with a limp. Next time I checked, I saw that it had a very bloody and damaged middle claw (nail?) of its rear right paw. This is STILL ongoing 2 months later. I mean this blood is very clearly fresh; I’ve seen little fresh blood marks on the floor where it has walked over, and the animal is clearly in a lot of pain. Like it’s so obvious and bloody that I can’t ignore it. Especially since the dog is white and just has a huge bloody red back foot. Whatever wound it has, it hasn’t fixed and remains open after many weeks. I also know Japan is notoriously bad for animal welfare in many cases.
I spoke to the old lady once to register my concern for the dog, she’s very friendly and talkative, and long story short she is 77, it was mostly her husbands’ dog, the husband unfortunately passed away 5 months ago, she promised to care for the dog which is 8 years old. She said she has noticed the dogs injured foot but she said, and I quote, “it can’t be that bad, he’s a big dog so he can handle the pain I think. I’m sure he’s fine. Plus I can’t afford to take him to a veterinarian”. She also said she is lonely, so even if she didn’t have the promise to her husband, she wouldn’t get rid of the dog because it’s good company. I can totally understand and respect that.
What would you guys do in this situation?
– If I hound (pun intended) her to help her dog repeatedly, she may get annoyed. Probably no more walks in this area and I can’t help anymore even if I wanted to.
– If I ignore it which would be very hard to do, I’m gonna feel extremely bad for the dog, and it will most likely indefinitely continue its daily torture of agonising walks as the problem worsens.
– If I report it to animal welfare, well I know nothing about her or who she is so it wouldn’t be easy. I’m not gonna follow some random senior woman through the streets. Would they take it and fix it for free? Put it down (I hope not)? I have no idea how these things work.
– I don’t know enough about the police services here to know if it’s fixable through that. And I don’t want to call the police on some old lady who hasn’t really done anything wrong.
– No I’m not stealing the dog. Like her I’m also unable to pay for treating it because of my current financial situation. Even if I were, it’s not my dog.
Advice please? Should I just ignore it? It breaks my heart to see animals in pain like that. But it’s also not my problem so part of me feels (especially in Japan) that I should mind my business. I hope there’s someone here who could better know what to do in this type of situation.
TL;DR Dog in pain and bleeding, not sure how to help.
9 comments
Offer to pay for the treatment, or at least for a checkup
> If I hound (pun intended) her
No more of these, please!
Plowing through the old lady to help the dog is probably not going to work. She knows its a problem, no budget for it, and maybe its okay…(it isn’t). A financial and mindset change is what is necessary, right?
I would suggest talking to the consultation (and/or senior care services, something of this sort) window at your local city ward. If they have any sort of home visitation program they may be able to visit her (or ask relatives to visit) and bring up the welfare of the injured companion. Maybe even connect her with a local vet. Considering the number of cat peeps out there seniors with pets is probably not a uncommon topic for your local government.
Pay for it, or find someone to pay for it. Otherwise you’re just a hypocrite.
I would offer to pay and take the dog to the vet myself if I had to. A claw problem can be solved with antibiotics and proper care BUT letting it go this long, who knows how bad the infection is going to get if left untreated.
Suggest that she stop walking the dog until the injury heals and offer to take it to a vet yourself if she can’t afford to pay, as others have suggested. Veterinary care is very expensive in Japan for people who don’t have pet insurance, so it’s a dilemma for elderly people who keep pets on pension money.
She’s old, push her over and steal the dog.
(Obviously sarcasm for the ignorant people)
There’s a dog that’s always chained up outside in bad weather, my wife called the cops but he’s still out there. In a country that lets parents off without punishment for abandoning a child in the [forest ](https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/japanese-parents-who-abandoned-their-child-in-forest-wont-face-charges-1416320) I doubt they care about animals. Sad but hard truth.
Ugh, this resonates. I had an old horse that started limping and I treated him with some meds it went on for a while before I called the vet. Unfortunately for poor Spirit her owner (me) has very bad eyesight (old) and didn’t see the tell tale sign of a divot on her hoof that indicated founder. Maybe engage with her and offer to help her. She may not be aware of how bad the injury is.
Would you be willing to pay for treatment?
Have a chat to her next time you see her and say you’re concerned for her dog. It would mean the world to you if she will take it to the vet for treatment and let you pay for it.