Bad Kitty!

Perhaps in an effort to stop that infernal caterwauling - though we at Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife doubt that is a concern - cat cafes in Tokyo are being spayed with a curfew.

Thanks to a revision of the existing Japanese Animal Protection Law that will begin on June 1, 2012, the public display of dogs and cats will not be allowed past 8PM, meaning cat cafes will have to lock its pet door early.

This is of some concern for cat cafe owners, as they make their money on the backs of cats Japanese workers often only leave work at around 8PM thanks to the fact they are afraid to leave any earlier. IN Japan, underlings lose face if they leave work before their boss - which can be problematic, as bosses often take a six-hour-nap starting at 2PM. The only way employees can leave early (before 8PM), is if the boss is off to meet his girlfriend early so his wife isn't too suspicious (She knows).

It's the post-work crush of people with cat scratch fever looking for pussy cat love that the cafes depend on - and that post-work crush may not even have started by 8PM, unlike the lazy Canadians and Americans who dare only work 9 to 5.

So... without an outlet to play with a purr pal, how will the over-worked young Japanese professional handle his or her stress? 

Look... this blog understands the need to not 'over-work' the animals... but these animals already are well taken care of... aside from the love and affection they are given by the paying customer (god! It's like visiting a hooker!) (So I hear), the cats at the cat cafe do shift work, meaning they only work for a few hours at a time before they have to be placed in another room away from customers so that they can relax, take a toilet break, stretch, yawn, lick themselves and perhaps choke up a furball. It's a good life, but I am unsure how much money they make.

What I'm getting at, is that at least the cats at the cat cafes seem to be well-looked after - and perhaps limiting the cats and their cafes to a mere 8PM is a miscarriage of law-making, and isn't fair to the cafe owners or their patrons.

Besides... the cats I have had (and have) tend to be more active at night... just saying, is all....

Does this also mean that cats and dogs appearing on television (live television) are limited to appearances before 8PM?

We'll assume the new law does not affect working dogs... the those working with a visually-impaired person or a drug-sniffing dog at the airport, but will affect dog shows and other posing events... perhaps even television commercials! Oh my dog! This revised law could takeseafood platters out of the mouthes of kitties! Oh the inhumanity!

Okay... I've had enough. I love my cat, but I am more of a dog person.

By Andrew Joseph