I want to save animals.
I want to do a job where I can save animals.
When I was a child, this was one of the jobs that I wanted to do when I grew up.
In Japan, over 40,000 cats and dogs are put down each year.
This is over 100 animals each day.
One of the reasons for this is that there are many people who purchase animals at pet shops at expensive prices.
Most of the cats and dogs sold at pet shops are under 1 year old and those animals that are not sold after turning 1 year are either given to a breeder or handed off to an animal shelter at the determination of the pet shop.
As a result, a large number of popular varieties are bred and unsold resulting in the tens of thousands of animals being put down each year.
The pet industry in Japan is thriving and there are many malicious breeders who will put animals into small cages for the sole purpose of breeding children, and some of these animals spend their entire lives continuously breeding children, only to die in after their bodies end up tattered and worn.
It seems that there are cases where animals end up being killed by untrained individuals who perform Caesarian sections or dying of starvation after being left alone after becoming unable to breed further children.
Breeders put cats and dogs up for auction and it seems that the animals are put into cardboard boxes that flow across rails.
In 2016, it is known that 20,000 animals died during this distribution process.
Then there are those people who buy pets without thinking it through carefully because it is trendy. There are many owners who abandon their pets at animal shelters for reasons such as "I wasn't able to get along with it", "I moved and was no longer able to care for it", "I had children", all of which are unbelievable and unacceptable justifications towards living beings.
I think that it is not normal that living beings are displayed and sold at places where you can make impulse purchases and that a price tag is placed on life itself.
I am against the display of living beings at pet shops.
One of the cats that I lived with for 17 years was a cat that was close to being put down.
A cat that I recently welcomed to my family is also a cat who was abandoned by the previous owner.
I feel that by making as many people as possible understand the current situation, it will lead to the saving of more animals.
As an adult, I became an artist and thinking that I could do something, I came up with the idea of creating these charity goods.
I will be donating the proceeds to animal shelters.
Animal shelters are places that protect cats and dogs that have no place left to go.
They help find new owners and treat illnesses and injuries.
Many of these organizations are supported by volunteers.
It seems that many of them do not have enough materials and funds.
Charity Goods
“Rainbow Bridge”
The painting that will be used for charity goods is a portrait of "Rich" who is a cat that I lived with for 17 years.
I adopted this cat immediately when I came across the internet posting looking for a foster parent, which note that he was "1 week from being put down".
Rich was timid and easily scared but he was a gentle cat that loved to eat. Rich passed on in my arms as if going to sleep.
Rich loved the sunlight as well as flowers and plants, so I made this painting imagining that he is crossing a rainbow bridge into the sunlight, invited by the scent of flowers.