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With no end in sight to the effort to round up animals in the vicinity of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, some volunteers began looking for a new strategy to protect the wandering dogs and cats.
Mieko Yoshida had been feeding pets left behind by their owners in the Odaka district of Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture. From late 2012, she began a new approach called "TNR," which stands for trap, neuter and release, in dealing with stray cats. The method is considered one way to keep the cat population from exploding.
Yoshida turned to the new approach because she began to feel that it was irresponsible of her to simply feed the animals because that would only lead to further breeding. At the same time, because neutering one animal cost several tens of thousands of yen, Yoshida had to seek donations for her project. She could only handle about 10 cats a month.
From the end of March to April, the central government redefined areas around the crippled plant. Until then, all areas within a 20-kilometer radius were designated a no-entry zone. The redefinition meant a wider area in which residents could return to their homes, if even only during the day.
At the same time, stricter measures were implemented for those areas where residents could not enter because of high radiation levels. Barricades cut off access to those areas, making it harder for volunteers to look for animals.
While the Environment Ministry rounded up about 460 dogs and cats last year, officials have yet to decide on their policy for the current fiscal year. The budget for animals that were in the disaster areas was also greatly reduced from the last fiscal year to 30 million yen ($300,000). Most of that money will go to operating animal shelters, meaning the ministry will likely be unable to conduct a similar campaign to round up stray animals.
Ministry officials are leaning toward allowing pet owners and volunteers to take animals under their protection in areas that are accessible.
On April 4, a van was donated to the shelter for the Fukushima prefectural animal protection headquarters where Seido Watanabe of Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, was the veterinarian in charge. The vehicle came from a group of veterinarians and had a surgical table installed.
The van will allow Watanabe to carry out the TNR project while driving around Fukushima.
Watanabe has decided to continue to seek out animals left behind, even in those areas where residents are still prohibited from entering.
Another issue he will have to deal with is deciding when to close down the animal shelter. Although the conditions for the animals have vastly improved from the days when it first opened, the shelter has monthly operating costs of about 5 million yen. Watanabe did not think it would be a good idea to rely on donations to continue operating the shelter with no end in sight.
Even those cats that staff could not handle at first have become much more accustomed to human contact. More people have become new owners, with about 50 cats being claimed in the past three months.
When asked to describe his experiences since the disaster, Watanabe said, "It is like someone who is very thirsty and has been made to wait for a long time is finally given a rice ball."
The veterinarian used that description because he feels that after a long period when he did not receive the necessary support, he was finally given way more than what he originally expected.
With all that, Watanabe feels that the end to his animal-saving activities arising from the disaster may be near.
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