Millions of people around the world watched the heartrending video of a dog, Ban, who was rescued after floating on a garbage pile for three weeks at sea following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. (Miraculously, Ban was reunited with his owner.) Equally emotional was a news video of a dog in the stricken city of Sendai who stayed by his near-dead canine companion as reporters approached. The dogs were both rescued and are doing well.
But away from the cameras, there are dozens of rescues taking place every day, with volunteers and organizations operating on shoestring budgets going into heavily damaged areas to retrieve animals separated from their owners during the disaster. One hastily formed group, Japan Animal Earthquake Rescue And Support (JEARS), is a coalition of long-established no-kill animal shelters in Japan. International groups are helping as well, including the U.S.-based nonprofit World Vets, the foundation begun by French actress and animal lover Brigitte Bardot, and the Utah-based Best Friends animal-welfare group, which was instrumental in reuniting pets and owners after Hurricane Katrina.
When the earthquake and tsunami struck, some owners managed to take their small dogs and cats with them, wrapping the shaking animals in towels. But other owners had no time to catch or take their pets in the few moments they had to leave. Still other owners became separated from their pets after they tried to help neighbors or mistakenly thought they could go back home and get their pet.
Thats what happened to one man, identified as Kamata-san on the JEARS website. He became separated from his pet Akita, Shane, after helping his neighbors get ready to leave their home. When he tried to return to his own house a few hours later, Kamata-sans neighborhood had been flooded and he couldnt get in. Six hours later, though, the devastated owner saw something wonderful: It was Shane, trotting up to the evacuation center where Kamata-san was staying. The dog, who had swum through the debris-clogged water to return to his owner, got an infection and was treated with antibiotics from JEARS.To deal with the hundreds of animals they are finding, rescue groups need a continuous supply of food, bedding, medicine, on-site cages and veterinarians services. When a JEARS team rescued thirty animals in one day, their colleagues had to make a nine-hour drive to bring them the supplies they needed. Most of the rescued animals are dogs, but cats have been saved, too: one volunteer waded into rapidly flowing, waist-high water to rescue a small cat trapped on the far bank. The cat is safe in a shelter; no one knows what happened to her owners.Even when pet owners are reunited with their animals, their troubles arent always over: Many survivors are staying in evacuation centers that dont allow pets, so foster homes have to be found in nearby neighborhoods. So far, the rescuers seem to be adept at finding them. Even two rescued birds a cockatiel and a parrot, Pippi and Sakichan now have a good foster home until their owners find a permanent place to live.
When the day comes that there are no more animals in the devastated areas that can be saved, the rescuers work wont be at an end. Theyll still need to keep shelters running, make sure the animals are adequately cared for, and help them get loving, permanent homes. (Because JEARS is a coalition of no-kill shelters, no animals will be euthanized.)In the meantime, though, JEARS, its employees, and its volunteers look nonstop for frightened, sick or injured pets, using a blog to keep their followers up to date. Thank you for your support, one entry read. Good night from Japan.
