For many foreigners, living in Japan poses a host of challenges. Consider, however, the life of Elizabeth Oliver, the owner of ARK animal rescue shelter, who manages a facility that houses 300 dogs, 200 cats, 3 rabbits and one fox in a location that can be best described as the "middle of nowhere." In light of Oliver's constant battles, both bureaucratic and domestic, and her having to deal with a veritable Noah's ark worth of life, one's own worries may loom less large.
"I think animal welfare is to be compassionate, and to treat animals humanely." — This is the ethos which serenades Oliver's conscience and is the impetus for devoting her life to the well-being of Japan's neglected cats and dogs.
ARK, the acronym for Animal Rescue Kansai, is a shelter, or more accurately a chaotic cacophony of animals in cages, in Osaka's Myokenguchi, and is probably the biggest and most reputable establishment of its kind in Japan.