New island dominated by cats

Peter O'Brien

There are dog lovers and then there are cat lovers and now there are people who live on a remote island with cats. What would those people be called? The Washington Post reported that Aoshima Island, an island in southern Japan is home to humans and lots of cats — cats that outnumber the humans by an extreme ratio of six to one.

For cat lovers, this kind of place would be dream come true, for dog lovers, this would be the least desirable destination to ever travel to. USA Today reported that more than 120 cats are living on the island. The main business on this island is tourism for people who want to go see the cats and there are ferries that will take tourists to and from the island.

The Washington Post reported that there are not stores and cars on the island, but the cats were originally brought to the island to take care of the large mouse population on the island that would trouble fishing vessels.

The number of cats eventually began to multiply and were outnumbering the number of humans on the island. Eventually, it became something for the residents to be proud of and they knew this could be a great tourist opportunity because of its unique cat population.

According to a report from USA Today, Nobuyuki Ninomiya is the ferry captain and said that he used to rarely ever bring tourists to the island, but due to the greater demand and interest, the ferry now takes tourists to the Island weekly, running twice daily.

Tourists will have the opportunity to go and play with, feed and do pretty much whatever they want with the cats, considering they have plenty to choose from.

Now nicknamed “Cat Island,” this island of Japan has turned out to be a great tourist opportunity and is something that has never really been seen before. Very few of the cats actually get neutered so it is just a matter of time before the 120 cats multiplies to an ever greater number.

As a dog lover, this kind of place is somewhere that I have pure nightmares about. To me, cats are creepy and mean. On the other hand, for all of the cat lovers out there who have dreamed for years about an island that is populated by cats, this kind of place does actually exist and is waiting for you!