Dogs For Rent

JUNE 29, 2004
Puppy love in Japan...by the hour
TOKYO - The Beatles sang Money Can't Buy Me Love, but people are flocking to the Puppy The World rental pet shop at Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront park to rent just that by the hour.

On a recent Sunday, dozens of lonely hearts gazed at photos of adorable doggies and then shelled out 1,575 yen (S$25) to take the chihuahua, toy poodle or miniature dachshund of their choice for an hour's walk.

Upon their return, many give their short-term companions a quick hug and a wave in a misty-eyed farewell.

For Japanese with a fondness for animals but who are unable to raise pets because of their cramped homes or strict apartment rules, shops like these are a godsend.

'Three of us in our family love dogs, but my grandfather hates them,' said a 12-year-old girl who lives with her parents and grandparents in a Tokyo condominium, and who rents a dog every week.

Each person who rents a dog by the hour is given a leash, some tissues and a plastic bag - in case the pooch has to answer the call of nature. They also get strict instructions not to let the dogs run free, to keep them in the shade on hot summer days and refrain from giving them snacks.

For the steeper price of 10,500 yen, renters can take their chosen dog home for an overnight stay and are provided with a day's pet food, a water dish and a cage for the animals to sleep in.

The rental business is no oddity in dog-crazy Japan, a country with 11.1 million pet dogs and where doggie hot springs and pet aromatherapy abound alongside products like canine perfume and miniature sofas for pets.

In Tokyo alone, the number of shops registered to rent out pets grew to 115 as of March, up from 17 just three years earlier.

While the boom in puppy love is raising awareness about animal welfare, concerned veterinarians say the animals up for rent live difficult lives.

'For shy animals, getting taken on walks by people they are not familiar with is a major source of anxiety,' said Ms Chizuko Yamaguchi of the Japan Animal Welfare Society. -- AFP