Japan to probe popular animal cafes amid hygiene, welfare concerns

Japan plans to look into popular animal cafes, where visitors can interact with anything from cats to capybaras, following concerns about hygiene and the creatures’ welfare, authorities said on Thursday. Japan has hundreds of the cafes where campaigners say animals are sometimes kept in cramped spaces, and that their popularity encourages the capture and illegal trade of rare wildlife. A fact-finding survey will begin as early as next month, starting with obtaining basic information such as…