Japanese authorities have begun to evacuate companion animals from the 20km exclusion zone established around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The government-led evacuation began on Tuesday 10th of May, as part of the Fukushima Prefectural Government’s ‘temporary coming home’ project. Authorities predict that only around 100-200 animals need to be evacuated, and announced that they had already taken 27 dogs and 2 cats from the 20km zone.
A team of veterinarians and Ministry of Environment officials are spending the 10th and 11th of May collecting the animals and taking them to a collection point within the 30km evacuation zone. There, staff from the Animal Disaster Response Team (ADRT), a coalition of local animal groups, including WSPA’s local member society, Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS), are checking their health and radiation levels and decontaminating them.
These animals will then be transferred to the Fukushima City Shelter which has a capacity of 200 animals. In addition, the Fukushima Prefectural Government and relevant municipalities have agreed to allow animals to live with their owners in the temporary houses currently being built.
