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Many readers likely remember the terrible story about the man whose guide dog, Oscar, was stabbed multiple times while the pair was en route to the owner’s work.  Oscar didn’t bark nor react to the stabbing and it was only when a co-worker saw the blood on him that anyone realized what had happened. An investigation was launched and people around the world reacted in anger and severe disappointment that anyone would harm a dog like this.

But while there are people who will hurt animals, there are even more who are kind and loving to them, and one such man from Saitama is offering a big bounty to find this criminal and put him behind bars.

Mr. Kaneko, a manager of a landscape gardening company in Saitama Prefecture, heard about this crime on the news. He thought, “What can I do to help catch this criminal?” and came up with the idea of a cash reward. With the support of four other employees, Mr. Kaneko raised 1,000,000 yen (US$9,516) and took it to the police in charge of the case. Mr. Kaneko explained, “This crime cannot go unpunished. I want the police to use this money.”

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The vice police chief was astonished by the sum but according to the prefectural criminal affairs section, the police department cannot accept donations for special bounties. On the other hand, it is entirely legal for someone to establish a charity organization and hand out the reward that way.

Mr. Kaneko owns a beagle as well as two dogs, Fuku and Shima, who were rescued after the Great East Japan Earthquake. A staple at their landscaping business, they are being cared for with the cooperation of his employees, many of whom are animal lovers.

“People can never be allowed to hurt animals. I want this criminal to be caught quickly.”

Source: Yahoo! News Japan
Images: Flickr (Hiroyuki Takeda), Flickr (Jay-P)