Pet Box Chatan to stop selling cats and dogs
A company called “Om Fam,” the operator of Pet Box in Chatan, announced that it will stop selling dogs and cats from April next year.
The company say the decision is based on its corporate philosophy “to make a society that don’t create unhappy dogs and cats!” Director Tsuyoshi Nakamura of Om Fam says, “We want to change the concept of our pet shop.”
Om Fam started commercial sale of animals about eight years ago. It buys dogs and cats from breeders who are certified to have no problems with their breeding environment. Pet Box Chatan has sold about 10 dogs and cats a year to customers.
In Pet Box Naha, operated by another company Ocean Pet that occupies the building as a tenant, will continue commercial sale of pets, but Om Fam will not stock dogs or cats anymore.
In Pet Box Chatan, after stopping the sale of dogs and cats, Om Fam will adjust the business plan completely after 2020.
The aim of Om Fam is zero euthanizing of dogs and cats in Okinawa and it has worked with the “Pet Ribbon Fund” that donates to animal welfare organizations.
Nakamura said, “We concluded that that the commercial sale of animals is against to our company philosophy.”
According to Nakamura, there are no pet shops in Europe or United States selling animals, and people who want to buy a dog or cat purchase the pet mainly direct from breeders.
Om Fam plans also to start new services in the future, such as dog and cat walking. The aim is to establish a new business model of a pet shop without the commercial sale of the animals.
In fiscal year 2017, 1421 dogs and cats were euthanized in Okinawa.