Stray Cats of Japan

A young stray queen missing an eye, Fukui, Japan

Last week as I was walking to school, I saw an orange tabby lounging in the morning sun in an empty driveway. I had seen this particular tom stalking the streets often in the evening, and I wanted to take this opportunity to meet him. You see, I’m very much a cat person. I crouched down beside the scruffy tom, extended my hand, and stroked his back gently. It was obvious as I withdrew my hand. He was dead. Regardless, I watched him closely, hoping I was wrong, and that perhaps the wind ruffling his fur was actually him breathing. A young Japanese man in business attire stopped next to me, and gasped a quiet, “Ara!” He looked from me, to the cat, and then back to me before consoling declaring the cat dead. I nodded and stood, then took my leave quite abruptly. Helplessness and agitation were already setting in as I marched onward towards the train station.

Poor tom. What could I have done? Even as I think this, other toms are marking their territory and doing their rounds. Queens in estrus are calling to them.  In another two months, she will bring another four to ten homeless cats into Japan’s alleys. It doesn’t end. Don’t Japanese people care about cats? I thought as rage bubbled up inside me. Is it so hard to spay and neuter your pets? The question is destined to loom over me for my entire life, regardless of my country.

Tom takes shelter in a shrine at Neyagawashi

The one intolerable thing about Japanese culture is their refusal to properly alter their pets. That’s right Japan, I’m calling you out. You have a stray cat problem. The problem is very simply understood, very painstakingly solved. First, Japanese don’t spay and neuter their pets because it’s expensive and inconvenient. These choices are then justified with weak claims about the animal’s freedom to reproduce. The sparse Japanese animal shelters don’t even spay or neuter their animals because they know no one will claim them; Japanese people rarely buy used things. Stray dogs and cats will be euthanized in a short two weeks time, but at least these animals won’t face starvation, lethal illness, or a violent death. Finally, well-intentioned people feed cat colonies, thus allowing them to thrive and reproduce. The Japanese feeding these cats don’t realize their cat colony will increase exponentially until they simply can’t afford to feed their cats anymore. If Japanese people could come to understand the ill effects of refusing to spay and neuter their pets, I believe these compassionate people would make the right decisions.

A black stray at Fushimi Inari clearly suffering from sickness

A dusty stray living near Hirakata Station

A cat from Neyagawashi's shrine's colony

An inquisitive stray with a slight eye infection