TOKYO: Japan’s Environment Ministry is considering a project to send dogs and cats rescued by municipalities to hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly to take care of inpatients and residents, informed sources told Jiji Press.

The move is designed to reduce the number of rescued dogs and cats that are eventually killed by giving them chances to serve as therapy animals.

The ministry also hopes that the project will help provide mental care to hospital inpatients and nursing home residents.

It plans to include related expenses in its fiscal 2022 budget request to launch the project in the year that starts next April, the sources said.

Specifically, the ministry will look into how rescued dogs and cats are used as therapy animals. It will also recruit hospitals and nursing homes willing to accept rescued animals, to examine their impact on the mental condition of inpatients and residents.

There were 5,635 dogs and 27,108 cats that were rescued but eventually killed in fiscal 2019, according to the ministry. It has a goal of reducing the total number of killed dogs and cats to some 20,000 by calendar 2030.

In June, the ministry set an upper limit on the number of dogs and cats a new pet business can have, in an effort to eliminate malicious businesses that mass breed dogs and cats.

The limit will apply to existing businesses as well, starting June next year, raising concerns that more animals will have no place to go due to the restrictions.

Jiji Press