The Road To Finding A New Cat (2009-08-01)
Finding a kitten is not as easy as I thought. For one thing, I don't know any place in Tokyo like the SPCA or animal shelters in big western cities where there're lots of cats/kittens for people to check out. Our route to finding a kitten is through adoption meetings and adoption sites.
For adoption meetings, it's simple. One just shows up at such
meetings which are held sparingly and they usually have 20 to 30
kittens waiting to be adopted. Since we are picky about the
color, looks, and personality of the one we want, we haven't had any
luck in them.
Adoption sites are more complicated to use. First you look
through the pages and if you find a kitten you like, you send the
foster parent a letter of request. You have to describe your
family, your living environment and agree to a number of rules such as
never to abandone the cat. (At one adoption meeting, we were even
required to send in monthly report and picture of the kitten up to a
certain age should we
decide to adopt it.)
If the foster parent deems you a suitable candidate, they'll arrange
a meeting to visit the kitten. If the adoptive parents (yes,
parentS. They have strict rules not to release kittens to
people living alone, unmarried couples or elderly people) decide to
take the kitten,
it will be brought to their house at a future date. There'll be
signing of a contract (you read it right. The adopters need to
sign an agreement on a number of things for adopting the kitten.
Is it legally binding? That I don't know) and the official
handover of the kitten to the new parents!
Obviously we have only gone as far as visiting a potential kitten at its home, but I'll keep you posted when we find a Daifoo II.
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