Today marks one month since the massive 9.0 earthquake hit northern Japan, bringing with it a wave of devastation from the tsunami that followed. As we know, nuclear facilities there continue to spew radiation, making assistance extremely difficult. At least 13,000 people have died, and 14,000 are missing.
Meanwhile, despite many rescues in the past month, thousands of dogs and cats are foraging for food and still searching for their owners.
It’s worth taking a look now at how efforts for animal rescue in Japan after the tsunami are going four weeks into this ordeal.
American Humane Association
We begin with Debrah Schnackenberg of the American Humane Association. She is the senior vice president of emergency services for the animal protection group. Schnackenberg insists that while human rescue and assistance is obviously vital, animal rescue is just as important and is “simply the right thing to do.”
“Our work with animals does not take resources away from efforts to help people,” Schnackenberg says.
She cites three major challenges for rescue work after the Japan tsunami:
- Rescuing any animals that survived the initial devastation. This includes not only companion pets like dogs and cats in hard-hit areas but also farm animals that were left behind. “Given the destruction, this is a daunting task,” Schnackenberg says.
- Finding shelters for pets whose owners are now staying in human shelters that do not allow pets.
- Dealing with the immense challenges associated with the animals left behind in unsafe zones near the damaged nuclear facilities. “The risk from the radiological emergency makes entering that zone unsafe for rescuers.”
According to Schnackenberg, 100 percent of donations to the American Humane Association‘s work in Japan go directly to animal relief. “Having been on the ground myself in very difficult situations,” she says, “I can tell you that it actually does mean something to people — and, I believe, animals — to know that the world is watching, and help is on the way.”
Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support
A beagle from Minamisoma, Japan, is scanned for radiation contamination; the levels are determined to be safe. JEARS/Kinship Circle photo.
One group that Pets Adviser has been following closely is Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS), a coalition of a trio of no-kill shelters in the country.
According to its website, more than $488,000 has been raised in the past month to support the group, which has up to five teams on the ground in northeastern Japan at any given time.
The teams have even gone to the areas around Fukushima. All volunteers have safety equipment and are taking every precaution, JEARS officials say. If you are wondering about the risks and what happens to animals that have been exposed to radiation, you should know that JEARS is doing its best to deal with this situation. The animals are examined by veterinarians and treated individually. “No animals will be put down just because they’ve had radiation exposure,” officials say; however, this may not be a hard and fast rule: “If exposure is too severe and their suffering is too painful we will examine our options.”
You can donate to JEARS on the group’s website.
JEARS has been coordinating with a group from the United States called Kinship Circle, a nonprofit that specializes in disaster rescue. Kinship Circle claims it is the first U.S. group to send ongoing assistance into Fukushima and Iwate prefectures. The group has put out a call for volunteers to help them on the ground in Japan.
Disturbingly, Kinship Circle’s call to action also notes that they need help with “production activities related to [an] Animal Planet shoot.” Let’s hope those TV cameras don’t get too much in the way — though, of course, more public attention to the ongoing efforts will ultimately provide more donations and resources to the group’s heroic work of animal rescue in Japan.
