Osaka airport introduces canine comfort room, complete with pole

A dog is pictured at the first ‘dog toilet’ opened at an airport in Japan, at Osaka International Airport in this undated handout obtained by Reuters on February 10, 2020. KANSAI AIRPORTS/Handout via REUTERS

Osaka's Itami airport is setting up a toilet area for travelling dogs, complete with a pole for them to cock a leg on.

The toilet, in a fenced-off yard outside the terminal, will also have a shower and water bowls, operator Kansai Airports said. The "pee pole" will flush.

Designed to encourage dogs to relieve themselves before boarding domestic flights, it will be the first such canine comfort facility at a Japanese aiport.

A dog is pictured at the first ‘dog toilet’ opened at an airport in Japan, at Osaka International Airport in this undated handout obtained by Reuters on February 10, 2020. KANSAI AIRPORTS/Handout via REUTERS

Service dogs are permitted to use disabled-accessible toilets in the terminal but the mess must be cleaned up.

Dogs are pictured at the first ‘dog toilet’ opened at an airport in Japan, at Osaka International Airport in this undated handout obtained by Reuters on February 10, 2020. KANSAI AIRPORTS/Handout via REUTERS

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Angus MacSwan)