■ My Dog Chaka



"Give me some food!
My mouth is watering!!"

This is Chaka, a fifteen-year-old female Chihuahua. She was born in Australia and came to Singapore, where I met her for the fist time when she was three months old.

She came to Japan with me in 1997, when the quarantine inspection at the airport required for animals brought into Japan was very simple--just submitting a certificate which proved that the animal had had a vaccination against rabies. Since then, she has lived with me except for one year.

When it was decided that I was allowed to do research in the U.S. on Sabbatical from August, 2006 to September, 2007, I at first intended to take Chaka there with me, but a little later I found the quarantine system had changed. Dogs and cats brought into Japan would have to have a microchip implanted under the skin as a means of identification before arriving in Japan. Moreover, I was worried that she would not be able to endure a long journey in a cage by air because she was already over twelve years old then, which roughly corresponded to over seventy years old at humans' age. Therefore, I finally decided to leave her in Japan, putting her in a pet-sitter's care. While we lived apart from each other on the other side of the Pacific, however, Chaka got seriously ill.


Chaka is about to leave
the hospital after staying for
one week to get an operation.

I talked with Chaka's vet on the international call. The vet said that Chaka's womb was swollen with pus and she would die unless she got an operation to have her womb and ovaries removed, but he also added that she might die during the operation because she was so old that she might not be able to endure the operation. I was upset badly, feeling it extremely difficult to determine whether she should get an operation or not. Eventually, I made up my mind to get her an operation. Luckily for her and me, she has completely recovered and is now in excellent shape☆　 U^ェ^U


The monkey: "This is my buddy , Chaka"
The monkey: "We are good friends, aren't we?"
Chaka: "Get off of me"

Chaka: "I can't take this anymore"
K.O.!
Chaka:"He got what he deserves"