Lets look at a few dog places, shall we?
Busan, South Korea
Jangsan Puppy Cafe
South Koreans dwelling in small apartments de-stress with cute dogs and cold drinks.
Japan reconciled its great love for cats and its limited space in an ingenious way: cat cafes. These cafes are places where Japanese cat lovers with pet restrictions on their apartments can observe, feed or play with cats. It’s a win-win: cats are stress relievers for the overworked Japanese, and the formerly-stray cats are often up for adoption.
It’s a fantastic concept, but one that seemed to rely on the calmness – or, as dog lovers would say, the aloofness – of cats. Felines won’t go nuts if hundreds of visitors come to pet them each day.
Somehow, the Koreans got the concept to work with dogs, too! That must be so nice for urban humans who need a little canine companionship but who cannot keep a dog in their dwelling space.
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Dog Chapel
Small chapel celebrating the spiritual bond between dogs and humans.
In 1998, folk artist Stephen Huneck died and five minutes later, came back to life. Stephen had been battling Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome and, upon recovery, stated that “the near-death experience, combined with what my wife taught me about love, and the appreciation I felt toward the most basic things we take for granted all had a profound effect on me. As an artist, I share the feelings I have with others through my art.”
Not long after Huneck returned home to his wife and three dogs, he had the idea of wanting to “build a chapel, one that celebrated the spiritual bond we have with our dogs, and that would be open to dogs and people. People of any faith or belief system.” Huneck built the chapel on “Dog Mountain,” on his mountaintop farm in St Johnsbury, Vermont.
Alajuela, Costa Rica
Territorio de Zaguates (Land of Strays)
Where dogs like the rare "Fire-Tailed Border Cocker" run free on the mountainside.
Over one million stray dogs roam Costa Rica. This is both unsafe for humans and the dogs, and the numbers tick higher and higher every day. The country has criminalized euthanasia, opting to simply spay and neuter dogs instead. Many street dogs are taken into shelters and adopted out, but purebred dogs are considerably more likely to be adopted than mutts.
One rescue is different—up in the mountains, Territorio de Zaguates celebrates the unique mix of each dog it takes in. Veterinarians at the free-range shelter did their best to analyze the mutts’ physical traits to take a guess at the breeds they might contain. They then gave each dog their own unique pedigree, with names like the “Furry Pinscher Spaniel” and the “Freckled Terrierhuahua.” An inspired artist painted beautiful portraits of the pedigreed mutts.
Clever marketing for adoption! Love it!
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