We wanted to know what may have come out of the IFAW led conference on animals left behind in the Fukushima evacuation zone, held on May 2 & 3 in Tokyo.
There has not been a lot of information released telling us what findings, plans and recommendations have come out of the international conference organized by the IFAW and held in Tokyo on May 2 & 3, but we found a press release today and reprint it here for those readers who share our concern over this animal welfare crisis situation.
This press release gives a very generalized rundown on some of the outcomes, but at least offers a glimpse into the proceedings.
We are pleased to see that the attendees, most of whom were US and Japanese governmental agency representatives, recommended that animal rescue and removal efforts continue. The Japanese government has since decided to allow rescue and removal work to continue from the closed-off zone surrounding the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.
“The Committee strongly feels that animal rescue work should continue inside the 20km zone.”
“Recommendations have been provided to ensure human and animal safety and the Committee feels that as long as these safety protocols are followed, well-trained and equipped rescue teams should be allowed to continue to remove animals from the restricted zone.”
Dr. Dick Green, IFAW Manager for Disasters
Here is the press release:
A comprehensive document detailing response procedures and protocols to safely monitor, evacuate and treat animals contaminated by radiation has been presented to sectors of the Japanese government today. The document is the result of an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) led summit that convened subject matter experts in Tokyo earlier this month to discuss the impact on animals left inside the 20km evacuation zone around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The Committee was formed by representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): APHIS Animal Care and Wildlife Services, United States Army Veterinary Corps, veterinary and toxicology experts from the U.S. and Japan, academicians, and IFAW. The Japanese Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) participated in the summit as observers.
“The Committee strongly feels that animal rescue work should continue inside the 20km zone,” said Dr. Dick Green, IFAW Manager for Disasters. “Recommendations have been provided to ensure human and animal safety and the Committee feels that as long as these safety protocols are followed, well-trained and equipped rescue teams should be allowed to continue to remove animals from the restricted zone.”
During the summit, small working groups were formed to address different risks to companion animals, livestock and wildlife.
The Committee identified and formulated counsel on the rescue, decontamination, transport and sheltering of cats and dogs. The experts strongly advised to commence every possible effort to keep people and their animals together.
The Committee reviewed existing protocols from MAFF to address livestock in the evacuation zone. Recommendations were provided to support the ongoing surveying of animals in the restricted zones and to ensure the rapid movement of viable animals out of the affected areas. Proposals were set forth to rescue, move or humanely euthanize farm animals.
The Committee also made short and long-term recommendations to ensure that wildlife and biodiversity are fully integrated into emergency plans. Experts suggested taking urgent steps to initiate sampling of wildlife in order to monitor changes in accumulation of radioactive substances and to secure samples of seasonally migratory species.
And contamination there is much worse than Chernobyl and can be even worse! But brave people risk thei own lives to help these poor animals, as much as they can. That is The Real Humanity!
Why has it taken so long to help these innocent creatures? Some of them have certainly suffered a more cruel death by starvation, instead of being irradiated to death. The lucky ones were left outside to fend for themselves and scavange. The unlucky ones were left inside with no food or water for how many weeks, months? Shame on the Japanese!