Thousands of animals still waiting to be rescued in the 20km evac zone in Fukushima

As of Monday, the Fukushima Prefectural Government began taking custody of pets around Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, according to Mainichi News. The initiative is based on the Rabies Prevention Act and mainly covers stray and unconfined dogs. Whether to take chained dogs, cats and other animals will be decided by veterinarians after examining their health. A team of 11 workers, including seven veterinarians, are testing animals for radiation exposure on the spot.

The prefectural government says it will post information to identify pets on its website. Officials also said it will not kill the animals but will try to find new homes if their original guardians fail to show up during a certain period of time. Yesterday, the vets removed five dogs and one cat, all of whom had nearly non-existent radiation exposure levels. Let’s hope the efforts can ramp up significantly to pull many more pets from the approximately 12-mile zone.

Sadly, Fukushima officials have been culling farm animals who are said to be near death since last Thursday.

Fukushima Prefectural Government has set up Fuskuhima Animal Rescue HQ, an initiative to save abandoned pet animals.  Pictures of rescued pet within the evacuation zone are also posted. (Site in Japanese language only)

Fuskuhima Animal Rescue HQ→　http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/eisei/saigai/kyuugoindex.htm


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html