The Chihuahua became very popular after the TV commercial for AIFURU.
The price of a Chihuahua soared from $2,000 to $5,000.
With this popularity photo books of Chihuahua were sold in stores….
Supermodel “KU-CHAN”: the Chihuahua who has a contract
with a modeling agency and has had a photo book published of her.
After watching KU-CHAN’s TV commercials, people (especially OL((Office Lady: Japanese way of saying female office worker)) fell in love with Chihuahuas and wanted to have them as their pets.
However many of them don’t understand that taking care of a dog is taking care of a life and they become horrible owners.
Here are some cases that the pet shop worker told us…
• A lady bought a Chihuahua from the pet shop. She had the dog for awhile but decided to go on a week long trip with her boyfriend without the dog. When she came back from the trip, her Chihuahua was dead. So she came back to the shop and started complaining. When the shop worker asked her “How was the Chihuahua fed while you were gone?”
The lady replied “No food” because “No one told me that the dog would die if I didn’t feed her for a week!”
The Chihuahua died from starvation.
(*This case is not even about “taking care of a life”…it’s about NOT having “Common Sense”)
• To avoid cleaning the dog’s mess, owners won’t give much food and water
• There are many cases of killing Chihuahuas from trying too hard to train them by hitting them hard and breaking their bones
• A couple gave their dog away because the wife became pregnant. (no guilty feeling what so ever because they believed it’s the right reason to give up their pet)
• To keep from coming back too often or to save money, some owners don’t give vaccines, or give extra strong dosages. They have also given antibiotics and Penicillin which could kill the dog from side effects.
The shop worker was saying that many OLs probably think small dogs like Chihuahuas and miniature Dachshunds, that are one of their accessories such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes.
The story in this case is from a friend of the shop worker, who rescued a dog who was left in a small cage for a year.
This dog was owned by a very rich family but they decided to put him in a small cage (even though he was mid-size dog) because they bought a NEW PUPPY. He was left in the cage for a year and fed once a day with one spoon-full of food. When the friend rescued this dog, he weighed only 7lb where he should have been 16-20lb. It took him a year and a half to walk normal and straight. He had reddish brown hair falling out of his body where he should have had black hair.
This family simply lost there “interest” for this dog.
There is another case that certain breed of dogs get popular because of TV commercials or some kind of publicity.
There was a cartoon called “DOUBUTSU NO OISHASAN” (Veterinarian) which featured a Siberian husky named “CHOBI”.
When CHOBI became popular, huskys became very popular, too.
Siberian husky’s is the closest animal to wolves so if you don’t train right away, they become dangerous to humans.
People expected their husky to become just like CHOBI in the cartoon who was very cute and easy going.
Lots of husky’s were let go onto streets or brought to the animal shelter, when people found out that their husky wasn’t becoming CHOBI.
Did you know the fact that the animal shelters were filled with Siberian husky’s right after the husky-boom?
There are some concerns that since this cartoon will air as a TV drama from this April, a repeat of the husky-boom will come back.
Real CHOBI! She looks just like one in the cartoon!
TV drama “DOUBUTSU NO OISHASAN”
According to the animal shelter today, many Golden retriever are brought in…that shows the ending of the Golden retriever-boom..
There is a big chance that the shelter will be filled with Chihuahuas and Dachshunds in several years.
If you would see dogs in the shelter, you would know which breed had the BOOM…
It must be understood…your pet is a living breathing form of life.
Please do not think it will be easy to have a pet. Do not buy a pet like buying your accessories or to throw away.
Having an animal with you means you have a huge responsibility for the rest of this animal’s life.
How many of you really understand that responsibility…..?
Next time will be a report from the Behind the scene of “Selling a pet”.
(TanteiFile)