Thought the character on the shelter might be a kanji, but I wasn't able to find anything that looks exactly like it. However a somewhat similar one I did find is 業, which means "profession, work, business, industry, etc.", but also "karma". In the latter sense it appears in a large number of compounds pertaining to sin and reincarnation which are thematically appropriate, such as: 業人 (gounin) "a person suffering in this life for the sins committed in a previous life" and 業火 (gouka) "hellfire".
