People who tested positive for the new coronavirus have been facing difficulties in finding a place to leave their pets when being admitted to a hospital. Municipal or private services that provide shelter to such animals are not yet popular, and even if one is found, it would cost much more than the usual price. Due to such factors, there have even been people who are postponing their medical examinations or hospitalization in consideration of their pets.
A Tokyo woman in her 50s endured a high fever of over 39 C, a sense of fatigue and headache for a week at home in mid-April without going for a medical examination because she was thinking of her dog.
The dog was only nine months old at that time. "I thought my dog would die if I was hospitalized," she said. Her live-in boyfriend had been staying at a hospital after he tested positive for the virus.
Eventually, her condition got worse. Having been told by her boyfriend to take a test immediately, she finally did so and found that she too was positive for the virus.
She wondered where she should leave her dog while at a hospital. She could not ask any of her family members to take care of it since many of them are allergic to dogs. Feeling woozy because of the fever, she searched online for a place and found a nearby veterinary hospital that also functions as a pet hotel.
Seven days later, her condition improved and she left the hospital. Then she found her dog was not taken out for a walk while staying at the pet hotel and had started to bark at night. "I should have carefully studied where to leave my dog. I should have checked whether they take dogs out for a walk," she said. "I thought I should have thoroughly considered what I should do in advance in case I tested positive for the virus."
A woman in her 20s in Kanagawa Prefecture, a rabbit owner, tested positive for the virus in May. As she had to stay at a hotel that accommodates new coronavirus patients, she asked her father, who lives with her, to take care of her rabbit. She said there were few pet hotels that keep animals other than dogs and cats, and many of her acquaintances already had their own dogs and cats.
Since her father has little interest in animals, she said she was worried about her rabbit while at the hospital. "I would be able to concentrate on treatment if there was a place where I could, even if it costs a lot, leave my rabbit," she said.
Some businesses and pet hotels take care of the pets of people infected with the virus. However, such services can be expensive because of disinfection and other necessary measures, although it still is unknown that dogs or other animals with the virus can infect humans.
Leaving a pet owned by a person infected with the virus for a month at a pet hotel in Saga Prefecture costs 100,000, yen about 40,000 yen higher than usual, since they will need to keep the pets isolated from other animals and disinfect the area where the pets stayed.
The hotel has received about 20 inquiries for the service since March from pet owners and their families, but has not yet been left with such an animal.
A three-week stay of an animal owned by a person infected with the virus at a pet hotel in Nagano Prefecture costs about 100,000, yen including 50,000 yen for a follow-up treatment at an animal hospital.
Anicom Holdings Inc., an insurer specializing in pet insurance in Tokyo, offers a service to keep a pet owned by a person infected with the virus for free, and has taken care of 15 dogs and cats.
"Ways to deal with such animals, including how the staff dresses, are completely different from the usual means of taking care of animals. We have to pay attention to the burdens and safety of our staff to continue the service," an official of the company said.
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