After visiting the Emergency Refuge Centers, we continued on to visit the Animal Shelter which houses the animals rescued from Fukushima.

The area is inside a mountain on the road which leads to a golf course, and there are no civilian residences nearby.

There is no water or electricity here.

As for water, the volunteers deliver water in poly tanks each morning to this shelter.

There are approximately 15 dogs under care here, all housed per request from the owners.

They are housed here under a 3 months term, but since there is no certainty if they can be returned in 3 months, the term may be extended beyond 3 months. 

There is a staff of 2 females who work here.

They were working covered in mud, but we saw them lovingly caring for each animal.

They have some paid volunteers who they rely on, but the priority duty tends to be

removal of rubbish, so here too, shortage of manpower is a problem.

The building is put together with steel pipes, and each space is divided for each animal.

Each space is approximately 3 meter in length, 3 meter in depth and 3 meter in height,and the doghouse is set-up inside the space. There is a divider between the spaces, so although you can hear the dogs barking in the next space, the animals seemed to be settled in a relaxed atmosphere.

As for the ground, they had scattered some volcano ashes ? and gravel which were sent from some supporters in Kumamoto, and the ground seemed smooth and odorless.

The dogs all belonged to known owners, and they all seemed calm and had very good expressions on their faces. This, we believe, is due to the staff’s dedicated care.

We heard that there are some owners who visit everyday to go for a walk.