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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2021, 7:15 PM EDT
Inside The Poodle Palace: Former Figure Skater Viktor Katsuki-Nikiforov Takes Us Inside His Animal Rescue Sanctuary
Standards and Minis and Teacups oh my – it’s a dog lover’s paradise in this Japanese city.
Patricia Millar
TOPICS: Viktor Nikiforov, Viktor Katsuki-Nikiforov, Yuuri Katsuki, Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov, Animals, Animal Rescue, Life News
This article was originally published on Salon.
The train ride from Fukuoka to Hasetsu takes almost two hours and there's a cab waiting to take us the rest of the way, but it’s worth it to meet with the subject of today’s story in his natural habitat. Retired figure skater Viktor Nikiforov-Katsuki (32) greets us at the front gate, his silver hair shining in the mid-day sun as he ushers us inside.
Viktor is the proprietor of The Poodle Palace, the predominantly Poodle, non-profit dog sanctuary in Hasetsu, Saga Prefecture. The Poodle Palace, now in its second year of operation, has become an international tourist destination. The Hasetsu Tourism Association (HTA) estimates over 2,000 tourists a year are drawn to the area specifically to visit the sanctuary, giving the local economy a substantial boost.
“It’s hard to tell,” says Viktor. “Admission is by donation so there’s no ticket stubs to count. We can’t tell who’s coming for the dogs and who’s coming to see Yuuri.”
‘Yuuri’ is Yuuri Nikiforov-Katsuki (28), one-time gold medalist at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, a two-time World champion (2019), and a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2016, 2017), currently holds the world records for the highest short program score despite having retired from the sport over a year ago. When not coaching at their local rink, The Ice Castle, or assisting at his family’s hot spring, Yu-topia Katsuki, Yuuri co-runs The Poodle Palace with husband Viktor.
Viktor is no stranger to fame himself, having won both the Grand Prix Final (2008-2012) and the World Figure Skating Championships (2010-2014) five times consecutively, and having medaled over 20 times in other competitions across his career.
“They make great decorations for the Palace,” Viktor laughs, leading us down the glittering hallway to the inner sanctum. “We ran out of room at home so we moved them all here. The only one we’ve kept is Yuuri’s gold from the Olympics.”
Viktor says he never dreamed of opening a dog sanctuary, but needed something to do after his husband and former protégé retired from competitive figure skating.
“Poodles are very easy-going dogs, but all animals need work and many people adopt before thinking it through. Poodles in particular have a high rate of abandonment as many are born with knee and joint defects,” says Viktor as he makes us tea. “We had Makkachin (standard Poodle) and Yuuri’s parents gave us Kenji (toy Poodle) as a wedding present. For a while it was just the two of them but one night someone left Krasa (miniature Poodle) on our doorstep and we couldn’t turn her away.”
Placing the tea tray on the table, he sighs mournfully. “Can you imagine having to give up your dog? I feel very sorry for Krasa’s family. It must have been very difficult for them.”
Krasa wasn’t the only dog the Katsuki-Nikiforovs adopted on a whim.
“Mila (Babicheva) found her on Instagram,” says Viktor on the subject of their fourth dog. “No one wanted her as he was a bit ratty looking and had a bad leg. She was scheduled to be put down. We brought her home less than four hours after we saw her picture,” says Viktor, proudly.
Their fourth dog, Reaper, was named by decorated figure skater Yuri Plisetsky, for whom Viktor choreographs award-winning performances.
“She really took to Yurio,” Viktor recalls. “It was only fair to let him pick the name.”
With Plisetsky’s help, the Katsuki-Nikiforovs were able to nurse Reaper back to health and integrate her into their pack. For a time, the pack held steady at four, though Viktor says the urge to add to their family was strong.
“It just wasn’t feasible at the time,” Viktor laments. “Yuuri was still competing and it wasn’t fair to the dogs or to Yuuri’s parents (who took care of the dogs during competitions). I had to get Yuuri to block all the adoption sites on my phone.”
But as Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov’s career wound down, the pair started thinking about what their retired life would look like. Viktor (who returned to competition for the 2017-2018 season before retiring for the second time) says he knew Japan was where his future lay.
“It’s not very convenient for travel,” he laughs, leading the way outside. “But I knew whatever we ended up doing, I wanted to have our home here.”
Beyond running The Poodle Palace, Viktor is still active in the world of competitive figure skating, though he travels less now, preferring to host skaters here in Japan. Besides Plisetsky, he currently choreographs for Italian figure skater Sara Crispino, Russian figure skater Mila Babicheva, and Kazakh figure Skater, Otabek Altin. He’s also one of two coaches working with Chinese figure skater Guang Hong Ji who is expected to place at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
“It’s all very exciting right now. It’ll be my first long trip overseas since opening the Palace and there’s quite a lot of prep work to do first.”
As we exit the building and step into the outdoor enclosure, we’re greeted by no less than ten Poodles, each wagging its tail exuberantly. Viktor receives the bulk of the attention, but several are eager to sniff the news crew.
“Mind you don’t have any food in your pockets,” Viktor warns. “They’re quite sneaky.”
It’s an impressive view. Playing to the natural landscape, the enclosure is a mixture of grassy lawn, pine forest, and rocky hills. A spring cuts through the center of the yard and widens out into a pool at one end. Poodles of all shapes and sizes are lolling about, some dozing but most up and playing either with each other or with volunteers. Many of the volunteers wave to us as we pass, Viktor waving back as he leads us to one of the many gazebos housed on the property. Many of the Poodles come with us.
“There are two-tiered gates at either end of the enclosure,” Viktor points out, “which make it easy for volunteers to walk to dogs up the mountain or down to the town. That corner houses the food and water, and that side is entirely covered in case they want a break from the sun or the rain. The sleeping area is inside and they have free access to it all day, though most prefer to stay outside until nighttime. Some of them put up a real fight to stay outside at night too,” he laughs.
A black toy Poodle forces its way onto my lap and demands attention. The fur around its mouth and eyes is neatly trimmed but the rest of its fur is long enough to bury my fingers in.
“We do very little grooming here,” says Viktor, pre-empting my question. “We’ve got a couple of groomers on staff who do the necessities – you know, face, paws, and tails – and we’ll give the rest of them a trim when they need it, but we don’t style them and we never shave them. Poodles are at their best when they’ve got all their fur. And we’re never short on volunteers to brush them.”
It’s true. None of the dogs sport the frilly French-style seen on show dogs. Some of them bear scars; signs of neglect from their past lives, but there’s no growling, no barking to be heard. It’s remarkable that all these animals are able to live in harmony together.
“It’s all down to our trainers,” says Viktor proudly. “Our staff have really perfected the onboarding process and we haven’t had to turn a dog away yet.”
The dog on my lap forces its head into my hand. Two standard Poodles sniff around my feet. It’s incredible to think that all of this started with four dogs and two ex-skaters.
“The community has been instrumental in making this a success. Yuuri’s parents owned the property (beside the hot spring), but it’s thanks to the community that we got permission to zone the land for an animal rescue. Their donations, and the donations from our visitors cover most of our operating costs, and the locals make up our staff and volunteers. We even have partnerships with some of the local youth groups to get the kids active and out playing with the dogs. It’s really a family initiative.”
Though the composition of the pack is 98% Poodles, the sanctuary does take in other breeds on an as-needed basis.
Viktor lists them off on his fingers. “We’ve got a Chihuahua, a Pomeranian, and a Shiba Inu right now, though I expect the Shiba will be gone by the end of the week.”
Every dog accepted into the sanctuary is assumed to be there for life, though sometimes exceptions are made.
“We only allow our dogs to be adopted after a serious vetting process, and only to our volunteers or members of the community. Many of these dogs come from abusive backgrounds and we only allow them to be adopted once the family has attended our workshops and spent over twenty hours with their preferred dog. And we let the families know they can always bring them back if they run into problems, no questions asked.”
This locals-only adoption policy caused quite a stir among the worldwide Katsuki-Nikiforov fanbase. When asked his advice on international families looking to adopt, Viktor just smiles.
“Hasetsu is a lovely place to live. But if they don’t want to relocate I would urge them to look into adopting from a local rescue.”
Though not the first of its kind, many rescue organizations are looking to adopt the Palace model elsewhere in the world.
“We’ve had several visitors interested in our adoption curriculum,” Viktor nods. “Just last week we hosted a group from Canada who came to shoot footage to show their town council. I told them I’d fly over and talk to the council myself if it wasn’t for the Olympics.”
The back-gate creaks open and several of the Poodles cock their heads at the noise. The now famous Makkachin, freshly returned from a walk with the other half of the Katsuki-Nikiforov pair, bounds across the yard towards us. When asked if Makkachin lives at the sanctuary, Viktor shakes his head.
“No, Makka and the original three still live at home, though we bring them in with us every day to play with the others. Kenji and Krasa are swimming with Taiki and Kaito, and Reaper is in with the groomers.”
How he keeps track of them all, I’ll never know. Yuuri Katsuki-Nikiforov finally makes his way through the welcoming throng of Poodles to join us. Viktor takes his hand almost at once and Makkachin flops down at their feet in a well practiced move. It’s almost time for us to catch our train back to Fukuoka, but we have just enough time to ask Yuuri for his take on all of this.
“Honestly, I didn’t have any plans for what I was going to do once I retired. I took some business courses in college and of course my parents were able to help us with the paperwork, but Viktor took the lead on this.” He turns to face his husband, adoration clear on his face. “He never fails to surprise me.”