ACCUSATION – COMPANION ANIMALS in JAPAN’s DISASTER SITE

Speculation that “companion animals in the disaster have been killed within several days” is a current topic on some Japanese website.

A website, Kinkyusaigaiji Doubutu Kyuen Honbu (緊急災害時動物救援本部: http://www.jpc.or.jp/saigai/ ) was set up urgently to save animals in the disaster with some organization’s help,
such as Japan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) (財団法人日本動物愛護協会: http://www.jspca.or.jp/),
Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) (社団法人日本動物福祉協会: http://www.jaws.or.jp/),
Japan Pet Care Association (JPCA) (公益社団法人日本愛玩動物協会: http://www.jpc.or.jp/index.html ) and Japan Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA) (社団法人日本獣医師会: http://nichiju.lin.gr.jp/ ).

They have put a comment about the rumor on their website. It states: “We confirm the fact of the rumor in each local area in the disaster and we would say that is not true.” The comment temporarily makes us confident.

LIA and our investigator have gathered the intelligence and investigated the handling and treatment of with dogs and cats following the disaster in Japan’s Miyagi prefecture. We asked an employee at Miyagi’s animal care center about whether cats and dogs where killed at the center on Mar. 28th.
“There were no cats and dogs which were brought by the owner to the center after the disaster,” said the worker. And also we asked them how the centre was coping with owners bringing in cats and dogs affected by the disaster. ”It’s in the air at the moment,” they said.

But our investigator obtained evidence that three - a Maltese, a Shiba and a Labrador retriever with filariasis - were brought by their owner to Iwanuma branch of Miyagi Shiogama health center but then sent on to Miyagi’s animal care center, where they were killed on Mar. 25th. A further two dogs, a crossbreed and a pug, were brought by their owner for the same reason, from Ishinomaki health center to Tome health center, Miyagi prefecture on Mar. 23rd. The pug survived because he could be found a new owner in the future but the crossbreed was sent to Miyagi’s animal care center and was killed there on Mar. 25th. We obtained the information on these dogs directly, but have also received anecdotal evidence that. Two other dogs were also killed for the same reason.

Although they said “It’s in the air at the moment “in terms of cats and dogs which were brought by the owner to abandon to the center and “there is no animal which was brought by the owner after the disaster,” the reality is that there were dogs which were brought to the health center and killed in the animal care center. On a later occasion, another investigator asked the reason for their destruction and was told by a worker: “We had put in their destruction without care of the situation,” and “it could be contained some dogs in the disaster.” Also they said if the owners affected by a disaster had no choice to continue caring for their animals, we would have to think about the animal’s life before being killed. If these owners weren’t visited by the disaster, these dogs would not have been killed even if they were old and had filarial disease because, as you know, it was a life and they were your partner in life. The owner has a responsibility to raise the dog like a child. The Government has some responsibility to carve out a path to make ourselves happy, something which should including all life.

But why did this situation happen?

The process has been undertaken with the assembly line precision of the Government. In other words, the accident was predestined to happen in Miyagi prefecture. Of course, it is conceivable that the workers in the animal care center become sad and have inner conflict to kill animals against their will. So they would have to think positively about the lives which were taken.

This is an accusation but the purpose of it is not only for Miyagi’s health center and Miyagi’s animal care center but also for the system of Government, and to argue strongly against the owner who is wishful thinker and free from blame. Japan is still a terrible situation for all of life, including humans, animals, fishes, insects and environments, to survive after the unprecedented disaster. So we have to treat all life with great respect.

Although attention is currently focused on the dogs and cats at the epicenter of the disaster, they have been killed from Monday through Friday everywhere; 40,000 of dogs and cats are killed every year in Japan. These dogs and cats were able to live a life. The problem is the scheme of the Government that depends on getting money from country, and they are not trustful to find a new owner for them so that huge numbers of the animals has been killed and burn. We have biased conscious to have animals.

Therefore, this accusation is edification to a people who think poorly of animal’s life.


NOTE:

Japanese society has a systematized the forcible extermination of dogs and cats.  
Every prefecture in Japan has facilities where abandoned, stray, or unwanted dogs and cats, or unknown animals with no identification microchip in their bodies, are picked up, collected, and held. After 3 to 7days, the animals are forcibly killed, or exterminated, even if they are healthy and have viable lives.
Every year 400,000 animals are exterminated in this way in facilities across Japan, which operate from Monday to Friday.