Ichiro Gushiken, a veterinarian and the owner of Animal Hospital 22 in Yogi, Okinawa City,will use this column, Pet Talk, to answer questions from pet-loving foreigners who often don’t know where to turn for advice.

Pets are becoming increasingly important members of the family.

Pet environment in current Japan has made a substantial change and progress compared to just few decades ago. Even here in Okinawa, though yet not too high, the pet environment as well as the owners’ awareness of pet care has changed over the years. And what we believe one of the biggest contributing factors for this is love!

Artist’s vision of the new facility.

People dedicate and provide happiness to their loved ones. In the same way, things people can do to their pets as a show of love are “offer quality food, keep them indoors, provide them garments, take them to a vet.”

Just recently I have had an opportunity to go around a number of pet shops in Okinawa, which I hadn’t for years, to get some pet supply. To my surprise, shops were saturated with pet merchandise and food, with each pet shop furnished with selected goods under

Dogs’ running park is included.

their distinct merchandising philosophy. And my overall impression was that those products, as opposed to human ones, were certainly more costly for their efficiency, and that the market still needs to advance over this factor. Few decades ago, what human products used to be was just the same—good quality is expensive, poor quality is cheap. Then over the years as the economy grew and demands expanded, we are now in the age when good quality can be bought cheap.

What I’m trying to get to is this: We have finally reached to getting the least environment in place for

Location of the new facility.

the pets, and that we have yet to provide a comfortable one in the true sense of the word.

With that being said, our Animal Hospital 22 Group is opening in Chatan a brand new large-scale pet institution in April 2015, with “town-building where pets and owners can live in comfort” as an overall theme.

This institution will consist of a “Midland Okinawa Animal Medical Center” furnished with advanced medical equipment, rehabilitation center, aged dogs’ facilities, pet hotel and grooming facilities, and a “Pet Complex Facility” consisting of pet shop, training class, dog café, dog run, merchandise store, and more.

Up until now, we have dealt with and saved many pets’ lives from an animal hospital viewpoint. Moving forward, we are dedicated to committing ourselves to not just pursuing medical practice but providing environment and support for pets from birth and living comfortably with their owners.

“Aged dog facility? Yes. Pet rehab center? Of course. Shopping center for pets? Certainly!” This is the kind of picture we have in mind. And we sincerely hope that the day when pets are in the same environmental conditions people are in, where people and pets live in peace and harmony, would come in a not so distant future.

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