[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

do u really believe that dogs like to be dressed up? for heavens sake they are animals not dolls. Many costumes restrict their natural movement--

Its one thing to put a protective coat against the weather but all this other nonsense is all for the owners to show off their dogs in ridiculous clothes. I am dead against it but who cares when designer dogs and designer clothes are big business.

Have you actually seen any of the clothes people put on their dogs?
Costumes restrict the natural movement of humans too... If they were not properly designed to fit. That is why there are clothes specifically for animals, and people aren't dressing them up in doll clothes. That would be incredibly uncomfortable and stressful for a dog. A glorified collar with little loops that the legs can go through is NOT. The designer dog clothing is designed not to cause any stress to an animal. How is a protective coat any different if it has decoration of some sort on it? The actual bits worn by the dog are the same. Do you mean to say that a dog can tell the difference between a protective coat and a decorative coat?

Also, I have yet to encounter anyone who dresses their dog up more than on rare occasions. Most "clothing" is indeed protective - rain coats, warmth coats, etc... Just made to look cute or like some other type of clothing.
I have never seen anyone just dress their dog up and parade them around. You are swallowing sensationalist news reports of weird Japan a bit too completely. I would be more than comfortable to say that the great majority of dog owners do not have ANY sort of clothing for their dogs, let alone decorative only. It may make great news to focus on a handful of weird people who dress their dogs up and show them off all the time, but that isn't the reality for 99% of pet owners.

Japan does not have a good reputation for the way they treat dogs.

Japan does not have the best reputation for the treatment of stray dogs and of breeder dogs. Pet dogs with private owners are some of the most pampered creatures I have seen.
Breeders, unfortunately, have an awful reputation in pretty much every country out there. If you want horror stories, just do a search on breeder abuse and the name of the country. I have seen stories of dogs being beaten to death, puppies being burnt alive, old birthing dogs being strangled then tossed in the trash, studs being starved to death in sheds... All in the US and UK. Japan doesn't quite take the prize for breeder cruelty.

At one time there was a company that exported pets to Japan-- from UK and Ireland. Many were purchased by customers pretending to give them a good personal home-- but it was a scam because thousands were exported to place like China and Japan. It had a very bad reputation and genuine breeders were really anti the chikuken company.

You have mentioned this before, and while I can see the unhappiness about dogs being sent to China, being as they do import for human consumption and experimental purposes, what is to say that the dogs sent to Japan weren't sold to loving owners? I can hardly see the point of spending the incredible amounts of money it takes to send an animal to Japan just to do something horrible to it. It is a pretty large endeavor to send an animal to Japan - you can't just bring one in. The dog has to have been brought to the country via certain means, and then spend a certain amount of time in quarantine, followed by medical checks, registration, etc. All things that cost money and would make it pointless to bring dogs from overseas if they weren't going to be sold to private owners who would be willing to pay for all of it.
And at the very least, people care enough about the huge sums of money they spent on the pet to not do things that would cause it to die earlier.

Is Japan improving in its animal care?

Being as Japan does not eat dogs, nor does it sell them in crates on street corners... I have a feeling that there has been nothing comparable to China or the Philippines for a very long time. In cities there just isn't the room for people to hoard and abuse dogs, and they are still a sort of luxury. Of course there are going to be cruel people out there who do horrible things (our own cats were put into a plastic bag in the middle of summer just after birth and tossed into a parked truck's bed) but to let those people color the image of everyone in an entire country is silly. Should I be worried about the treatment of animals in the UK because I can find news stories about abuse?

Also - China is not Japan. They may be close in location, but they are VERY different countries. Please do not let horrors you have seen taking place in China bleed over on to Japan.