G8: Japanese Police Deputize Household Pets/Soda Machines

In at least one Japanese district, neighborhood pets have been mobilized and outfitted with special coats provided by the police force. Their owners have been given training to help be on the lookout for anything or anyone of a suspicious nature in the days leading up to the controversial G8 Summit.

Some of the deputized pets are of a variety popular in Japan due to their small size--chihuahuas.

While the local police are quoted as saying it was the citizens who came forward and offered their animals for "pet patrol", this claim is suspect in the eyes of some resident foreigners and Japanese anti-G8 activists. As they count down the days to the Summit to be held July 7 through 9 in the remote resort town of Toyako, many report an increase in the number of posters asking Japanese citizenry to come forward quickly if they have the slightest notion of unusual activity.

Even soda machines are decorated with slogans and drawings of cartoon terrrorists exhorting the Japanese public to
”PLEASE UNDERSTAND AND COOPERATE WITH PRECAUTIONARY POLICING” and not hesitate to dial 110, the Japanese equivalent for 911 emergency situations.