神戸市と（社）日本動物福祉協会ＣＣクロの官民協働
Cooperation between Kobe City and the Japan Animal Welfare Society City Center Kuro
湯木麻里 神戸市動物管理センター 主査
Mari YUKI Assistant Manager, Kobe City Animal and Pet Management Center

Thank you very much for your kind

[Slide 4] As you already know, the Great Hanshin

introduction. My name is Mari Yuki. In

Earthquake of 1995 was the starting point for this eﬀort

2006, there was a symposium for theto save the animals. The three organizations, Veterinary

collaboration between the private

A s s o c i a t i o n o f H y o g o P r e f e c t u r e , Ve t e r i n a r i a nand public sectors of Kobe City and,

Association of Kobe City and Japan Animal Welfare

at the time, Sanae Matsuda from theSociety [JAWS], established the headquarters of theJapan Animal Welfare Society made a

Rescue Center. [Slide 5] And this was the situation ofspeech. Three years have passed since then and within

veterinarians and volunteers all working together at thethese three years we have tried very hard to work on

Rescue Center.

adoptions. Kobe City and CC Kuro have both madegreat efforts on that. Of course, we are only in the[Slide 6] This is the current [Kobe City] Animal Pet

middle of the process and there are many things thatManagement Center where we provide veterinary

we still have to do. I would like to explain how our

medical treatment to the dogs being put up for

adoption system is working and I would also like toadoption. The previous room and this room are exactly

thank NPO Knots and Mars for giving me such a great

the same. The Center was established 26 years ago, soopportunity to talk to you.

our building is quite old and not really advancedcompared to other such animal well-being centers.

[Slide 1] This is the Kobe City Animal Control Center
which is an official public facility. Please allow me talk[Slide 7] This is the Rescue Center after the earthquake

about what our adoption is like. We receive both dogs

and our volunteers are walking the dogs. [Slide 8] This isfrom owners as well as dogs with unidentiﬁed owners.

the current Animal Pet Management Center where ourIn the case of lost dogs, if we cannot ﬁnd the owner wevolunteers are also taking the dogs available forhold the dog for a week. After that period we will either

adoption for a walk.

put the dog up for adoption (and if the ownersubsequently becomes known we of course return the[Slide 9] So you can see many things from the time ofdog back to them) or put it down. [Slide 2] The average

the Kobe earthquake disaster are carried on at theadoption success rate during the past 3 years is 12.5

current-day Animal Pet Management Center. ʻTo work

percent for adult dogs and 19.3 percent for puppies.

together is betterʼ has always been our basic philosophy
ever since that disaster. By working together we have

[Slide 3] Regarding these adoptions, CC Kuro and Kobelearned that we can complement each other, which was

City are performing this public and private sector

an extremely significant realization. However, at theoperation on an equal footing.

This is antime of the earthquake, we were operating in a state ofunprecedented collaboration, and has been called ʻtheurgency which is no longer the case with the current

Kobe Styleʼ. You may probably be interested to knowsystem.

why the public and private sectors are doing so welltogether despite their diﬀerent opinions and positions. IWe are of course working as a public and private sector

think there are actually some underlying matters whichcollaboration. ʻCollaborationʼ is a beautiful word but insupport us.

the initial stage it was neither easy nor systematic.

Workshop Ⅳ Shelter Animal Care ̶ For Better Adoptions

35

Indeed, it has taken us almost ten years, until now, toSo, along with this movement in Japan, our work

reach a certain level. But I think that process itself really

together has shifted from being a challenge to being

reﬂects the history of Japanʼs animal welfare. So let me

about adjustments. As we became partners able totalk about the process.

complement one another I think it was a naturaldevelopment for CC Kuro to evolve from a position

From 1999, our collaboration started. That was the year

supporting the official work, to a position as equalthat the Animal Protection Law was amended and thecollaborator. However, formulating an appropriate

Animal Protection Promotion System was newly

adoption system and maintaining this collaborative

established. With this system, public authorities andsystem was a challenge, as was securing a night-time

private animal welfare organizations, by working

shelter for candidate dogs. Periodic meetings weretogether can promote animal welfare throughtherefore held with city officials to allow a deeper

synergistic eﬀorts. In the same year, the Center started

understanding. CC Kuro also strengthened its own

its adult dog adoptions program on a trial basis. At theorganization and became a subsidiary organization

first adoptions meeting, JAWS members helped us byunder the JAWS umbrella. A contract was madeproviding advice to prospective owners on how tobetween JAWS and the City under which the division ofcorrectly care for a dog and how to manage adult dogs.

responsibility for each party was made clear.

In 2002, we officially set up a system for adult dog[Slide 10] Now let me touch upon the role ofadoptions as a City and contracted JAWS to have theircollaboration. The first point relates to ʻmutualmembers, as Animal Welfare Promoters, to conduct

understandingʼ. Our biggest difficulty was achieving

home visit surveys.

mutual understanding out in the field. That took themost work and effort. Administration people always

Of course, there were some challenges and issues. How

think about the public interest. They always try to act in

can the Animal Pet Management Center care for theaccordance with the public interest. They try to act fairly

dogs during holidays? There was also no kennel forand impartially according to an appropriate set ofcandidate adoption dogs so, in February 2004, JAWS

procedures, and they provide a consistent service as aconcluded a memoranda with the City. IN September

result. Conversely, the strengths of a citizen group-2005, JAWS donated kennels for showing the dogs. It

based welfare association are those of a pioneer, acting

was around that time that the volunteer association CCwith enthusiasm and with detailed specialties. Quite

Kuro became an independent group and no longer

often City officials are criticized for being unable tosimply a JAWS activity project. In 2005 CC Kuroaccomplish even apparently simple tasks but I think thisrequested the City for improvements to be made to theis because our areas of capability are very different.

adoption system.

Understanding these diﬀerences is crucial to an ability
to collaborate.

In reality, from the summer of 2005 disagreements anddiffering opinions about the adoptions and the dog

Therefore we used to hold meetings regularly and madescreening began to appear. Such kind of conflict orefforts in our daily communications to better

discord was bound to occur at some point. In 2005 theunderstand one another. Understanding our diﬀerences

laws were revised and Animal Welfare policy actuallybecame eﬀective for our collaboration such that usefulformulated. Under that policy the number of cats andsynergies emerged so that the sum of our parts, ʻonedogs being putting down had to be halved. This wasplus oneʼ was able to become ʻthreeʼ, ʻfourʼ or even ʻﬁveʼ.

the year from when there was a change from putting

36

animals down to putting them up for adoption and[Slide 11] The second point relates to respecting

more consideration for how Japan should be towards

equality in our mutual (independent) autonomies. We

the future.

need to respect our equal footing and equal

ワークショップⅣ

シェルター動物のケア・より良い譲渡に向けてpartnership. To run the adoption program, Kobe City

taking charge of the primary selection onwards.

and CC Kuro need to respect our diﬀerent strengths andweaknesses to discuss together about personnel, costs,

As for the primary selection, both the City and CC Kuroand the goods and supplies we need.

are involved. The Centerʼs veterinarians provide themedical treatment while CC Kuro takes care of dog[Slide 12] Of course, this is Cityʼs adoption project andwalking, cleaning, trimming and socialization, withoverall management is the responsibility of Kobe City.

Kobe City supporting. Health checks are performed byBut the volunteersʼ part is covered by CC Kuro. In terms

local veterinarian animal hospitals ( Veterinaryof finance and handling facility supply costs, centerAssociation members) and for the secondary selection,maintenance, and the fees for keeping the animals inin the case of adult dogs, animal hospitals perform

food and medicine, these are covered by Kobe City. The

sterilizations. If microchips are needed, these will be

City also handles and receives donations, but putting

supplied by the Cityʼs veterinarians at the Center, while

donations to use and paying staff labor costs are

the actual procedure is carried out by CC Kuro.

handled by CC Kuro. But as the Kobe City AnimalControl Center was only established twenty six years

The first task on the human procedural flow is theago, the facility is not well-advanced so the sterilization

document check as carried out by Kobe City. Then,of adult dogs is contracted out to external veterinarians

home visits are performed by CC Kuro with Animal

and the cost paid by CC Kuro.

Protection Promoters from the City. Overall judgment(whether to proceed or not) is decided by Kobe City.

[Slide 13] The third point relates to supplies. For theKobe City also arranges lectures to which an externalmaintenance of the facility, Kobe City is responsible.

lecturer is invited to talk about canine health

However, we also receive ʻin kindʼ donations such as

management. Then after lectures are conducted, bothcages or food for which CC Kuro is responsible.

Kobe City and CC Kuro carry out the adoption matching.

Next I would like to talk about division of roles and

The overall procedure is conducted by Kobe City but

responsibilities. I already mentioned that we clarified

the sterilization subsidy system is made and handled by

the division of responsibility and it is necessary toCC Kuro. The two parties work together to carry out theunderstand the difference. We have to put thehome visits after an adoption.

differences to useful effect and we make sure to keep
notes as a record. Thatʼs how weʼll be able to maintain[Slide 15] Next I will talk about how we share thethe share of the responsibility. Documentation isobjectives and targets. For this we have to ask the basic

extremely important in that sense.

question; “what are the adoptions for?” To achieve
mutual understanding on this, we have to put a great[Slide 14] Please allow me to explain the division of roles

deal of effort into discussion. I feel this is a mostin relation to the procedural flow for adoptions. The

essential issue especially when public and private

side with the text in blue color refers to the dogorganizations are trying to work together for anprocedure ‒ primary selection, quarantine, secondaryadoption program. The purpose of the adoption is, toselection and adoption. The side with the text in pinksave animals and give them with an opportunity forcolor is the human procedural flow. If you look at thesurvivalʼ. But this is not the only purpose. What we aredog flow, the animal comes to the Center and passes

also doing is working for animal-keeping and improving

through a primary selection, examination (quarantine),

the lives of citizens.

secondary selection and adoption. During the ʻkeeping
periodʼ it is the Cityʼs responsibility entirely, and they

Just discharging dogs from the Center is not the only

perform this role by themselves. But after the first

purpose because the post-adoption happiness of theselection it becomes a joint-operation with CC Kurodogs has to be ensured and secured. Appropriate

Workshop Ⅳ Shelter Animal Care ̶ For Better Adoptions

37

animal-keeping is most important. That way the owners
and the dogs can be happy afterwards. But this positiveeﬀect is not only for owners and dogs; the beneﬁts need
to be reﬂected in society at large. Through this we cancreate a harmonious society for people and otheranimals.
We should also aim to cause a decrease in the numberof animals being admitted. Yes, we have to ʻdischarge
the water from the shipʼ, but we also have to ʻclose thebottleneckʼ and make sure that the number of incoming

䇼Slide 䋱䇽animals is not increasing.
[Slide 16] Towards that purpose we have to create asociety where appropriate animal keeping can beachieved and secured. Finally we need to consider how
this collaboration or cooperation should be? 10 years
have passed and we need to visualize and design animage for this collaboration as a desirable picture. We
donʼt think our Kobe system will necessarily work forother local authorities and animal protection
organizations. There are many forms and various
methods. But the reason why we have continued this䇼Slide 㪊䇽collaborative eﬀort is that it brings beneﬁts to both ofus, and, at the same time we can enjoy the synergistic
eﬀects of working together.
[Slide 17] So thanks to such energy and the results ofour collaboration I think that awareness among thepeople involved has changed. We also gain someenergy from our activities and can develop further. If wecan work hand in hand, then we could further create
other networks with other organizations. We hope ourcollaborative work will be of some help for all the䇼Slide 㪋䇽

activities involving animals and public and privateorganizations. We, Kobe City and CC Kuro will continue
our activities at the Animal and Pet Management
Center. Furthermore, we really look forward toobserving more and more of the positive repercussions
and synergies within society.
[Slide 18] This concludes my presentation. Thank youvery much䇼Slide 㪌䇽38

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