Japanese death trucks put down stray animals
on the move
Gas-chamber-on-wheels scheme introduced after Tokushima residents said they did not want animals destroyed near them
25-02-2010 Simon Tisdall in Tokyo, The Guardian, UK
A local council in Japan has adopted a new method of dealing with stray dogs and cats: mobile extermination vehicles equipped with pet-sized gas chambers. The so-called death trucks were introduced after residents of Tokushima prefecture, in south-west Japan, said they did not want abandoned animals destroyed in their neighbourhood.
Puppies at a pet shop in Tokyo. Japan had 336,000 abandoned dogs and cats in 2007/8. Photograph: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP
The council's solution was to put the unwanted animals to sleep while they are transported to a regional crematorium, ensuring they are dead on arrival.
Dogs and cats marked for death are shut inside sealed metal boxes termed "sedation equipment" measuring 1.2 metres wide, 1.2 metres high and 1.5 metres deep, officials told Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
Once the eight-tonne truck is on the road, the driver pushes a button that releases carbon dioxide into the boxes, the paper reported. The journey to the regional crematorium takes about one hour. By the time the truck arrives, the animals are said to be dead.
Tokushima officials described the trucks as a last-ditch measure, saying they would prefer the condemned pets to go to good homes. "If possible we would like them to have an owner and live on," said an official at an animal welfare centre in Kamiyama.
The mobile gas chamber system has proved to be highly efficient, with an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 dogs and cats gassed annually. One advantage of killing animals in a moving vehicle is said to be that it removes the need to find a permanent site for destroying them.
Tokushima's approach has been copied elsewhere. Nara City, in southern Japan, bought death truck equipment worth £320,000 in 2008.
Fusako Nogami, of the All Life in Viable Environment animal welfare group, told Asahi Shimbun that irresponsible pet owners were to blame for the situation.
"If they can no longer keep their animals, people should try to find a new owner. They could at least choose euthanasia at an animal hospital, seeing them off in their own arms," she said. "When owners ask [the prefecture] to take their pets, local governments must also try to persuade them to be responsible until the last moment."
Environment ministry figures recorded 336,349 abandoned dogs and cats in Japan in 2007-08. Of those, 299,316 (89%) were put down, while 36,121 animals were found new homes.
(Bron: http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
(Bron foto: Guardian)
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