Dogs wander around the town of Minami-Soma, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20-kilometer radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, on Thursday.
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Dogs wander around the town of Minami-Soma, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20-kilometer radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, on Thursday.
© Japan Today
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paulinusa
Some type of collie? Would be a shame if they're abandoned.
cptmendoza
That’s it. Now we can sure that Tepco have been withholding the real details, high-speed replication of clones.
More seriously though, I just hope somebody is feeding them. I know some of the animal charities have been trying.
bcbrownboy
Looks like escapees from a puppy mill, and they look happy and healthy.
tobyb62
Those are shelties (Shetland sheepdogs) in the picture. The Japanese love their shelties.
tobyb62
I understand that the Japanese take very good care of their shelties. It's just one more tragedy, knowing how beloved they must have been to someone.
Interceptor
Cute dogs slowly being poisoned by radiation
paulinusa
" The Japanese love their shelties."
tobyb62: Maybe, but why were these lovely dogs apparently abandoned.
gogogo
poor doggies
cleo
Maybe their owners were away from home when the quake struck and were not able/not allowed to return. Maybe their owners got swept out to sea in the tsunami. Who knows?
The ones in the centre ground and background are Shelties, the two down the front are Border Collies.
Lovely-looking dogs.
I hope whoever took the picture saw to it that they were rescued and escorted out of the exclusion zone to safety where they can be reunited with their owners if possible or found new homes if not.
JT, can we have an update on what happened to these dogs, please?
Disillusioned
So, if these dogs are inside the exclusion zone, that means the photographer was too. What does 'exclusion' mean? Everyone except the media?
cleo
The police entered the area yesterday to look for bodies. NHK reporters were allowed in with them, all togged out in the radiation suits and carrying the little thingies that bleep when they detect radiation. Looks like an AP reporter was also allowed to tag along.
Were the dogs brought out?
Virtuoso
Hate to say this, but those poor animals are the canaries in the coal mine right now.
Harry_Gatto
Organisations such as ARK and JEARS are doing what they can for the abandoned animals in the area, please support them if you can.
ogtob
Who let the dogs out♪ woof woof woof woof
nisegaijin
My God, this is horrible. poor things can't even return to their owners. They will die suffering from radiation. Sad...
kujiranikusuki
just one thought. i guess press is allowed into the evac zone since this picture was taken. I wonder how many people are still operating in the zone. police? press? hospitals?
paulinusa
"They will die suffering from radiation."
No, they are much more likely to die from lack of food and water.
haruka
They all appear to be from the same litter!
TheBigRiceBowl
For the dogs ALL to be collies (of various breeds), it must have been a breeder's kennel that broke. Strange to see that many of the same dogs all milling together. They are likely all family members.
I love border collies.
cactusJack
They all look very thirsty. Poor things.
nandakandamanda
Saw on TV the other night that there is an organization that will go in and look for your dog for you and bring it out if they can find it. They poured out dog food and the barking attracted all the local dogs. The dogs are tending to stay near their original houses.
apecNetworks
It looks like the movie set for the movie remake of, "Lassie, Come Home".
T_rexmaxytime
What do they eat???
dano2002
I don't think this picture = description. there is no way these are stray dogs. they are all the same breed.
Wolfpack
It appears that radiation exposure causes stray dogs to group themselves by breed and color.
ogtob syas:
I don't know who let them out, but someone needs to go back in there and take care of these dogs. Maybe the photographer can take a few with him on his way out of town.
Gobshite
Where can these be found?
tapetptape
my close friend is from Minamisoma and the town of approx 75,000 falls between the 20 to 30 km "voluntary" evacuation zone and there are over 25,000 or so ppl still there with a number returning recently. Weird that these dogs are all the same breed though....
Monkeyz
Also, given that spaying/neutering isn't all that common in Japan, I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more clone puppies in the future.
Irradiated mutant clone puppies. Feel free to make a cartoon out of that.
asianTourist
AP reporter had crossed the zero zone to catch this heartfelt picture. There may be some solution to shelter those dogs. But we know people are priority now.
Harry_Gatto
Google ARK (Animal Rescue Kansai) or JEARS (Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue & Support). They are easy to find.
Laguna
Collies are said to be the most intelligent breed. No doubt they're trying to communicate how to deal with the reactors, but humans are to dense to understand.
MeanRingo
That's "too dense" Laguna. "Humans are too dense to understand."
I bet they are all just looking for something to herd. And all they have is themselves.
TheBigRiceBowl
Did the government make the 20-30km zone a "voluntary evacuation zone" so they wouldn't have to foot the bill? Somebody should tell those dogs to evacuate!
HM0707
Praying for all the animal victims of this devastation. I was up doing animal rescue work in Miyagi and Fukushima. Heartbreaking - not just the animals themselves but the animal guardians who have lost their pets or are struggling to keep them. And, also all the farm animals. We saw numerous dead cows. Please support Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support (JEARS) and/or Animal Refuge Kansai (ARK) as mentioned by Harry Gatto above if you can.
livushka
what will they do to animals exposed to radiation?!
Sarge
This is a sad scene. Many people who had to evacuate were unable to take their pets.
I hear that dog Babu who saved that old woman's life by leading her up a hill in Miyagi was not allowed in the evacuation center with her. Jeez...
Patricia Yarrow
Puppy mill refugees. Don't want to even think of what they are eating to survive. Do those dogs look normal or happy to you? A pretty tense situation.