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Dog abandoned on streets in radiation exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
The Tokyo-based news blog Rocket News 24 has been doing some investigative reporting on the fate of animals abandoned in the mass evacuations from the exclusion zone around the irradiated smoking husk of the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. The images they have brought back are unsettling. Is there anything positive to be gained from looking upon these images?
Nobody ever accused a dog or a cow of splitting the atom, so it's not as though this vision of the abomination of desolation can be blamed on them, or that there is a lesson they need to learn, about the error of their ways, their arrogance, their hubris, the empty religion of their technology.
No, the images must be meant for us.
Not forgetting, of course, that we'll never learn, even after it's too late.
Early in April, the reporters visited a cattle ranch in Namie, ten clicks from the plant. This is considered an area of particular risk. The ranch owner and staff had left everything behind and departed for safe refuge, leaving no one to provide water and food for the abandoned animals.
"Here," writes Rocket News 24 reporter Tachyon, "instead of the lively sounds of farmers going about their daily work, the air is filled with the desperate cries of abandoned cattle. Going to the barn to investigate, we found that over half the cattle in every pen were dead, and the rest were letting out heartbreaking cries for help as they stood among the corpses.
"Normally, the cattle are able to use their nose to push a pedal that releases water at a drinking hole in the barn. However, no water came out when we tried for ourselves, suggesting that the water supply has been stopped."
Some local residents told the reporter that while gathering their belongings to get ready to evacuate their own homes, they had tried to supply a little feed and water to the cattle, but that they would be leaving the area within a matter of hours, and there would be no one remaining to continue the effort to ameliorate the suffering of the doomed creatures.
"Now, the starving cattle can only wait for whichever comes to greet them first: the humans that abandoned them, or death."
Abandoned cattle in barn on ranch at Namie, radiation exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 11 April 2011)
Abandoned cattle in barn on ranch at Namie, radiation exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 11 April 2011)
Dead cattle in barn on ranch at Namie, radiation exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 11 April 2011)
Abandoned cow on ranch at Namie, radiation exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 11 April 2011)
A few days later the Rocket News 24 reporters returned to Namie with a rescue team made up of volunteers from several animal protection groups. The purpose of the group's visit was to rescue as many dogs and cats as possible, and transport them by car to refuges beyond the twenty-kilometer exclusion zone.
"As we drove through the town, the surrounding scenery was like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie," reports Tachyon. "Stores lining the streets were all closed. There were plenty of cars everywhere we went, but all were missing their drivers. Not a single person walked the streets, and the only sign of life was a single cow walking in a field.
"As we got further in, we noticed that dogs were roaming freely through the town. It seems that many people evacuated after undoing their dogs’ chains to allow them to move around. However, we also found dogs that had died of starvation, their owners most likely having fled without unchaining them, leaving them unable to move.
"Some of the dogs, seemingly at a loss as to why the people of their town have disappeared, have taken to forming small groups with other dogs and moving together. We saw a small pack of three dogs ourselves as we made our way through Namie.
"When the rescue team would find a dog, they would call out softly and attempt to lure it closer with food. The dog would approach slowly and start eating the food, though most were extremely cautious and would not let the rescue worker touch them. Finally, after spending a good 30 minutes making the dogs feel at ease, they would fasten a leash to their collars and put them in a carrying case to take to the shelter.
"Some dogs were much more easily captured. We found one dog outside of a Family Mart convenience store that responded when commanded to sit and willingly let us put it on a leash.
"By the end of the day, the rescue workers had run out of cages and were forced to leave several pleading dogs behind. Though the workers left them with what food they could spare, we can’t imagine how lonesome it must feel for those dogs to once again watch as people turn their backs and leave them behind."
Member of animal protection rescue team attempts to make contact with dog abandoned on streets of radiation exclusion zone, Namie, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
A successful dog rescue, radiation exclusion zone, Namie, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
Dog with broken chain, abandoned on streets of radiation exclusion zone, Namie, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
Impromptu pack of three abandoned dogs wandering streets of radiation exclusion zone, Namie, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
Rescued dogs being examined for radiation by members of animal protection team, exclusion zone, Fukushima Prefecture: photo by Tachyon (via Rocket News 24, 13 April 2011)
