Jan. 9, 1971
By S. Sgt C. E. Witter
S&S Staff Writer
TOKYO — An Air Force veterinarian sounded a strong warning this week to dog owners in military housing areas: keep your pet under control or lose it.
“Being a pet owner at a housing area is not a right but a privilege and along with this privilege goes the responsibility of obeying the rules for pets.” said Dr. (Capt.) Michael Sturrock, veterinarian at the Grant Heights Dependent Housing Area.
According to Sturrock, the stray dog problem at Grant Heights stems from a number of reasons. “The Air Police force here is understaffed and doesn’t have a dog catcher. The men patrolling the housing grounds sometimes refuse to stop because they don’t have the knowledge of how to capture a stray dog.”
“We also have a problem with the pet owners themselves. Here, and at all housing areas, there is one rule that must be followed by dog owners. A dog must be tagged and leashed at all times. The only exception will be when the dog is on voice command of an adult. The Air Police are under orders to pick up any dog not under the above two conditions.
The Yamato AS dog pound handles all stray animals from Tachikawa, Green Park and Kanto Mura housing areas. A spokesman at the pound said that 157 stray dogs has to be destroyed last year. Homes were found for 50 others.
“The main source of the problem here is families moving and leaving their animals unattended and making no attempt to find a home for the animal. The dogs then linger around clubs, snack bars and any food facility looking for something to eat. We have to catch them and destroy them,” the spokesman said.
He also said that people who want to give their pet away should contact their local base police desk sergeant. “This would eliminate almost half of the stray dogs in all the areas,” the spokesman commented.
Shore Patrol officials said the stray dog problem was not as acute in the Yokohama-Yokuska area, but that when they did capture stray animals they are destroyed after three days if homes cannot be found for them.
Officials at Camp Zama said information on stray dogs and the procedures for handling them was not immediately available.
“If a dog is picked up and he is tagged the police will make every effort to let you know they have your pet,” Sturrock continued. “A stray dog without tags is taken to the pound where it remains for three days and if the animal is not claimed in that time he is put to sleep. A tagged dog remains until the owner picks it up, but a fee of $1 is charged for every day the pet is in the pound.”
The veterinarian said the only way a stray dog could be saved was for an interested person to contact the pound, wait until the three-day period is over, then claim the dog and pay$3.
During 1970 over 100 cases of dog bite were reported to the veterinarian at Grant Heights. “Not all of these were from stray dogs, some came from dogs tied up at home.
“When a bite case occurs, the dog is first put in the pound for observation. The second time the dog has to be sent home to the States or be given to an off-base home,” Sturrock said.