IITATE, Fukushima Prefecture--Perseverance paid off for a dog whose name translates as Spud.
The mongrel passed his search-and-rescue dog certification test on the 11th attempt, and as a bonus reward the hound has been appointed as the “ambassador” to promote Iitate, where he was born.
The message is clear: Never give up! And this slogan can be applied to Fukushima Prefecture, fighting hard to recover from the 2011 nuclear disaster, just as much as to Jagaimo, the word for potato.
On Aug. 14, Jagaimo demonstrated his search-and-rescue skills at the Madeikan roadside station, which had opened two days earlier, and succeeded in sniffing out his target in front of a throng of spectators.
“Efforts by Jagaimo, who was evacuated and then worked hard, remind villagers of the difficulties that they have faced,” said an Iitate municipal government official.
Although the evacuation order was lifted for most of Iitate in March, the village is still struggling to recover from the nuclear disaster triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The indomitable hound that has provided encouragement for residents of Iitate will now publicize the village’s reconstruction efforts.
Jagaimo was put under the care of the Japan Animal Care Center, a nonprofit organization in the central Japan city of Gifu, after its owner evacuated in the wake of the nuclear disaster.
Jagaimo failed in the rescue dog test 10 times because he was often tense and unable to bark to signal discovery of a buried survivor within the time limit. But he finally passed the test in June.
“He suddenly did the business, as if he was a different dog,” said Tsuneo Yamaguchi, head of the care center, referring to how Jagaimo breezed through the test.
“He may have been waiting for the evacuation order to be lifted and the nice roadside station to open,” he added.