Millions of Japanese people live alone with their dog or cat and they have no heir or relative to entrust the animal to in the event of death or disability. To reassure them, more and more associations or companies are offering a retirement home service for these pets.
Anxiety about the future of the pet after our death is very present in Japan, where there has been a surge in the number of dogs and cats in homes. This phenomenon was found almost everywhere in the world during the Covid pandemic. People bought cats and dogs to compensate for the boredom of periods stuck at home.
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In Japan, in 2020, the association of pet food manufacturers identified 60,000 more cats and dogs, for a total of more than 20 million pets in the country.
Calm anxiety
In comparison, there are only 14.4 million children under the age of 14. In fact, the number of births has been declining year after year for 20 years. Millions of people who live alone, without children, without a spouse. These people now need to be reassured about the future fate of their pets.
So several companies or NGOs now offer this kind of retirement home for dogs and cats, a structure that can acquire them in the event of a life accident. The idea is to prepare well in advance for the care of the cat or dog, in case it is impossible to take care of it. This includes cases of hospitalization, dementia, or illness where the days are numbered.
Life insurance
The model is as follows. First, you have to pay some kind of membership fee. For example, in the case of the NGO that manages this service in Gifu prefecture, it costs almost 100,000 yen, that is to say a little more than 600 euros. Then you have to pay 1,000 yen per month, 6.50 euros, in the form of a subscription, in addition to a sum of 6,000 euros, which will be used to complete the financing of the care, sometimes for years, of the cat or dog.
The companies that offer this service explain that they need these amounts to guarantee a pleasant life for your pet because they are not kennels. Some associations say they can try to find another owner for the animal. In particular, they will look for a new home among the members of the service’s subscribers. If they find it, they will pass on part of the funds paid to the new owner, to help them finance the care of a new animal.