Japan - animal rescues & news of
GOOD NEWS FROM THE ROAD: Yesterday, we met a man at an evacuation centre in Sendai who told us a very touching story about his Akita dog, named Shane. The man is a pillar in his community and when he heard the tsunami warning he rushed to warn his neighbors after letting Shane free in the yard. After notifying his neighborhood, he tried to get back to his house to get Shane, but the tsunami was rapidly approaching and he was forced to go to the local school on higher ground. He had given up hope of ever seeing Shane alive again. But, 6 hours later, one of the people staying in the center said they saw a dog outside. The man went to look, and it was Shane!! Shane had never been to the school before, but somehow, his instincts lead him there. The dog swam through chest-high water before being reunited with his guardian.
The man took us to Shane, who was staying at his house several blocks from the school (the water had receded of course). Shane must have hung onto debris, as he cut both his elbows on something. We instructed the guardian on how to clean his wounds and gave him some ointment to ward off infection. We were able to leave fuel with the local veterinarian, so he will return to check on Shane and provide him with antibiotics to ensure his wounds heal.
Picture links
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...228979&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...228979&theater
A message from one of the rescues
I contributed to this rescue, thus I receive updates from time to time:
Update 6th/7th/8th April 2011
Day 1
Boys set off by van from Osaka bound for Tohoku. I managed to get the last seat on a plane from Osaka Itami to Fukushima. I was on a small plane full of rescue workers since Fukushima is one centre for the earthquake rescue teams. If one didn't know about the disaster there were only a few signs which indicated anything unusual along the route I took by taxi from the airport towards Motomiya, a town in central Fukushima where I would stay; military aircraft at the airport, the highway somewhat cracked and bumpy and gradually more houses with blue tarps to cover holes where the tiles had come off.
Stayed at Joyama san's mum's house. Joyama san worked at ARK 10 years ago but is now married with two small kids. She runs a pet trimming business and does pet sitting. Since the earthquake she has set up a distribution network with friends to carry food and other necessities to pets of people in evacuation centres, 15 in all. Fortunately her mum helps her too and her mother in law takes care of the kids. J's mum welcomed me and the boys who came later with a comfortable place to sleep, a hot bath and delicious supper. Really grateful to these people for putting us up
Day 2.
Set off in van for meet up in Minami Soma with ECONOMIST bureau chief in Tokyo, Henry Tricks and his Japanese assistant Amie. It's a two hour switchback drive over back roads, many damaged. Suddenly come across 3 dogs in the road. One very matted female ShihTsu , a white mixed male and brown mixed male. We managed to catch two of them but the brown dog, although hungry, refused to come close enough to be caught. The van was so full of kennels and food, we had only space for one cage for the white dog, so I held the ShihTsu on my lap. Arriving at Minami Soma city office, a nerve centre for the local area, we decided to split up. I would travel with Henry and the boys would check on the ownership of the two dogs.
Nice to be in a comfortable car after being cramped in the van. There were four of us including a local evacuee who would act as our guide. He was glad to get out of the evacuation centre for the day as he had no car himself and was bored to death. Henry suggested we try to go as far into the 20k no-go area around the reactor as we could. He had a small geiger counter in the car to register levels of radiation. Soon we come up against a police block. Guarded by a very stroppy policeman who refused to let us pass despite the car having a diplomatic number plate, Henry had a press pass and we had a resident with us. It was not worth arguing with this policeman so we chose another smaller road to get inside. Actually there are a lot of back routes in.
Coming closer to the coast we could see the total devastation of where the tsunami struck Like a desert with piles of trees, rubbish, cars and bit of houses. They say that many old people kept all their savings in a chest (tansu ) as they didn't trust banks so a lot of money was carried back out to sea. Negotiating the tree strewn road we came across a barn with horses. Their owner was feeding them with hay and grain as best he could but was limiting rations. These poor creatures are thin, hungry, with woulds all over their legs and bodies, standing in the mud and rubbish left by the tsunami. What terror they must have felt when the wave came in.
The owner was at first reluctant to talk but gradually he opened up, telling us of his experience. He and his family fled to Niigata but were then prohibited from coming back to their place for two weeks, since it is within the 20k no-go area. So the horses were left without food or water for two whole weeks. When he returned 6 horses were dead and the other 37 very weak. He had pulled the dead horses out of the barn and they lay in their death throes at the entrance. It is so distressing to see horses that have died of starvation. Now he didn't know what to do. He had run round his contacts but nobody wanted to take animals that were possibly radiated He said he was so depressed that he though he would have to kill the remaining horses. Behind the barn a bit up the hill we found 5 steers, also belonging to him, one was also dead. This one person has to carry water from a distance every day and food for the horses when he can find it. He has no energy left to clear the mud and debris in the barn.
We asked him to hold on and we would try to help. The next day we made contact with two organisations rescuing horses; Intaiba Kyokai and Uma to Aiyumu Soma.
I spoke with Numata san of the former organisation and she is in contact with that owner and will visit his place today (9th) . So will update on that. I fear that several of the horses will have to be put down due to infection of their wounds and weak condition.
After that we drove further inland to areas untouched by the wave but still inside the 20k no-go zone. Although most of the houses are unscathed, the place has an eerie feel as there are no people. Saw quite a few dogs, obviously owned but running around free. One beautiful Akita sat proudly outside his house, waiting for his owner who may never return. There was plenty of dog food at the back and water so someone must be coming. I left ARK's contact number just in case as well as in other places where there were loose dogs. It is doubtful that anyone can ever live there again due to radiation levels in the soil……. so very sad. Arrived back to J san's mum's house, very tired and hungry,had forgotten to eat lunch. No peace though, another earthquake lasting around 3 minutes magnitude 7.4 struck at 11.30 p.m. the house shook but no damage.
Day 3
Our plans change again, but we are getting used to this. Members of Tokyo ARK are driving to Ibaragi to pick up the 7 dogs which are being sent from Tokyo Haneda to Osaka Itami. The boys plan to drive around the outside of the 20k exclusion zone to see if there are animals to rescue. (needless to say they found a Golden Retriever, wandering in the middle of the road and about to be run over so load it in the van. This dog will come to Osaka 9th)
I join J san to see her storage place in Koriyama and to visit a huge evacuation centre called Big Pallette , a former event stadium, where 10,000 evacuees are living! Searched around the car park where some dogs are tied to cars or inside cars. there is no shade in this place so a dangerous situation even in this cooler weather. A woman with a pug told us there is a room inside for people and pets, around 10 dogs but she said it is so noisy and smelly nobody wants to stay there. Returned to J's Mum's house and waited for the boys to return as they are taking me and the two dogs (rescued yesterday) to the airport. Have decided to fly back to Osaka as ANA won't fly dogs which are unaccompanied. Even with a booking it is touch and go whether the dogs can be flown as it is a small plane and there are a lot of rescue workers with equipment to carry. Boys stay until we are safely airborne. ANA is flying earthquake animals from Fukushima for free. Arrive home around 10 pm, put the two dogs in a room the staff have prepared with blankets, food and water and then go to greet my gang. Good to be home.
The fear is now that the exclusion zone may be extended to 30k or more, a frightening prospect of where people and pets will go. The house we were staying is 45k away. We are now considering renting/buying a place to act as a temporary shelter in Fukushima, since we will soon be reaching capacity here and in Tokyo. J san's area Motomiya is very central and convenient. She is asking an estate agent friend to search. Will keep you all posted. When we consider that Fukushima is only one prefecture and there are maybe six or seven affected by this disaster, the scale is just mammoth but we'll do what we can.
The kids at a primary school class in the US have all sent drawings and messages supporting our efforts for the earthquake animals, all very touching. We don't know this school but they must have found us through the internet.
Elizabeth Oliver
Update - rather graphic - not easy to hear about
Update 20th April 2011
Four more dogs in yesterday.
HARLEQUIN female Setter
TRUE BLUE male Beagle
FAIRWAY female Beagle
VANILLA old male Beagle given up by owner
Boys also returned for a break, they have been on the go without a day off for over a week now.
They brought back photos, some very distressing; small dog left in cage which the owner had asked them to pick up, already dead of starvation; others dead on chains, their bodies just skin stretched over bones showing they died of starvation, cats and dogs dead in the road, some hit by rescue vehicles. There are estimated to be 2000 evacuation centres in Fukushima prefecture, some huge gymnasiums, others smaller, like temples or private facilities. Now that the school year has started, evacuees have to move out of schools to other evacuation places. Most pets are not allowed in any of these so people keep them tied to cars or in cars. This will be dangerous as the weather gets warmer.
When talking to evacuees about why they haven't been back to rescue their pets they answer as follows:
*many people have no transport; they were bused to the evacuation centres by the authorities. Even if they have a car, they have no petrol. There is no public transport.
* When they were evacuated, they thought it would only be for a couple of days so they left their pets with enough food and water for that time.
* they are constantly told of the dangers of radiation and prevented from going back home. This is of course a real fear because nobody knows how much radiation is in the air or on the ground.
After the boys rescued animals, they and the animals had to be checked for radiation. To make sure that animals were free of radiation, the boys shampooed and washed any that were especially dirty before sending them to Osaka.
In yesterday's update I said that the period of danger from radiation which prevents people from being able to return home, even though their homes are not damaged, would be 6 - 9 months, this is unlikely. People are now predicting one year or two before it is safe to go back and many places will become uninhabitable for ever.
Total of rescued animals to date: 71 dogs, 15 cats, one bird.
Elizabeth Oliver ARK
Animal Refuge Kansai - ARK
Web Site: http://arkbark.net
How to donate: We have two ways to donate, the first being Paypal, if you follow the link
from the English http://arkbark.net site it will take you to Paypal in English. Another
option would be International Postal Money Order sent to:
595 Noma Ohara, Nose-cho
Toyono-gun, Osaka-fu 563-0131
Japan
Latest update June 19, 2011
Update 19th June 2011
The owner of the little Dashchund that we rescued and called REMEMBER ME contacted us. She is the daughter of the family that owned the dog, but lives herself, in Tokyo. We were shocked by the fact the little dog was tied by a heavy chain outside and would have starved to death if we hadn't rescued him. The dog is now being fostered lovingly by a family in Kansai and of course kept inside. Although the daughter has promised to make sure the dog will be kept inside from now on, it is difficult for us to check on this, we can only trust her word. This is a dilemma we face; should we return an animal to a place where it was neglected even though they are the rightful owners and want their dog back ?
We also had contact from Joyama san, a former ARK staff who is volunteering to supply evacuation centres in Fukushima with pet supplies. She has been contacted by Namie-cho officials saying that people are now being moved into temporary housing and that many cages will be needed for pets. We can't understand why pets cannot be kept free inside the temporary housing units, but apparently not. Once we know what kind of cages they need and the sizes, we will arrange a donation to them.
One veterinarian, Dr.Imamoto of Shinjo Animal hospital in Nara, has recently put his blog up, (see below), appealing for help to rescue animals in the 20k zone. We have received his permission to publish this. Out of the thousands of veterinarians in Japan, why have not more come forward to protest about the thousands of animals which have died through dehydration and starvation, due to the fact their carers were not allowed to go and attend to them ?
Elizabeth Oliver
Animal Refuge Kansai - ARK
Web Site: http://arkbark.net
Dr. Imamoto is a well known Veterinarian in Japan. He has created a statement in Japanese for The Hachiko Coalition to distribute to the media. The Hachiko Coalition has translated this statement into English:
My name is Shigeki Imamoto and I am a Japanese veterinarian. I run an animal clinic in Nara Prefecture.
I have made several trips to the danger zone in the vicinity of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since the earthquake and tsunami disaster occurred. I’ve seen what has happened to the animals that were left behind. Cows, pigs and chickens starved to death. Dogs and cats as well.
After the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, residents were evacuated from the area within 20 kilometers of the plant and told they would be able to return in a few days. This is a very painful situation for those who left their animals believing it would be for just a few days. They are now able to make temporary visits back to their homes, and in doing so are confronted with the starved corpses of cattle they raised themselves, as well as the dead bodies of pets with whom they lived for many years.
Before the danger zone was established, a great number of animals were rescued due to the efforts of volunteers in Japan. Some of those who kept cattle released them from their pens before they themselves were evacuated from the zone. Many thought long and hard before taking action.
No one wanted to see animals that they had raised suffer death by starvation. But the 20 kilometer limit, which was abruptly imposed, became a line that determined life or death for many animals. Currently, primarily through the Ministry of the Environment, volunteer veterinarians have begun rescuing pets in response to requests. But these efforts so far have managed to bring only several pets out of the zone each day, and not yielded great results. There are also some areas where pet owners have been unable to make any visits back to their homes, and every passing day brings them pain.
Through all of this, animals have survived. Pet owners and cattle owners alike hope for their survival. Despite all of this concern, thus far, unable to enter the danger zone, we could do little other than worry.
I’ve received permission several times to enter and assess the situation. It’s no longer time to assess. It’s time to act. There are lives still waiting to be saved.
If we raise our voices on this issue, we can bring about a change in this situation.
— Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Shigeki Imamoto
Previous blog by Dr. Imamotot on 15th April contains very disturbing footage:
http://www.animalsasia.org/images/en...oReport_sl.pdf
I must warn you about the photos in the link above. They are very, very graphic and not for the faint of heart. So very sad. Sad, sad, sad. Japan should take better care of their animals. They could have done food and water drops from planes and could have sent ppl in to release the animals.
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