A dog is seen through bars as it is herded to a metal container euphemistically called a "dream box," where stray dogs are asphyxiated with carbon dioxide gas, at an animal welfare center in Tokushima,Japan on March 11, 2010. In Japan a canine that ends up in the municipal pound is far more likely to be put down than to find a new home. While in some other industrialized countries the idea of "saving" a pet from a shelter is well-established, in Japan animal welfare activists say strays often fall foul of an attitude that prizes puppies and pedigrees as status symbols. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon) #