The Fukushima disaster: in general panic, hundreds of animals have been abandoned to their fate.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThe Fukushima disaster resulted in the immediate evacuation of 78 thousand people residents in the area most affected by radiation, with the promise that each of them would return to their homes within a few days. And so, in the general panic, hundreds of animals were abandoned to their fate in what is called "Exclusion zone", a portion of territory that extends for a radius of 20 km from the nuclear plants.
To make known the current situation of the area is a report from CNN, which opens our eyes to the painful fate to which dogs, cats, pigs, cows and other animals have been abandoned. Many of them are unfortunately starved to death due to the absence of the people who had taken care of them until then. The their bones and what remains of each is visible along the roadsides, in the courtyards and in every place that had hosted them prior to the disaster.
Many will think that it is the inevitable consequence of a nuclear emergency, yet it would probably have been possible to intervene to save at least some of the animals victims of radiation and neglect, if only the Japanese government had wanted it, as animalist Yasunori Hoso denounced to CNN microphones:
“It's shameful. We have repeatedly asked the government to rescue these animals since the beginning of the emergency. There had to be a way to help and save both the inhabitants and the animals at the same time, immediately after the Fukushima disaster ”.
Faced with the accusations, the Japanese authorities responded by arguing that action was planned from the beginning to rescue the animals, but that it was not fully pursued due to the serious health risks which rescuers could have met through a prolonged stay inside the contaminated area.
Only last December did the government allow a group of animal rights activists to cross the borders of the forbidden zone to rescue all those animals that may have survived. One of the first interventions carried out by the volunteers led to the rescue of some puppies that miraculously survived for months in an abandoned house. Now i 100 cats and 250 dogs rescued by the volunteers are housed in a special shelter. The owners of most of them have been traced, but not all will be able to welcome them back with them, having remained without their own home.
The survival of some of them was possible thanks to the courageous commitment of a farmer, Naoto Matsumura, who refused to leave his farm, located 16 km from Fukushima, evading the evacuation order imposed by the authorities. For the past eleven months, humans have continued as much as possible to care for and offer food to their livestock and other animals in the contaminated area.
Matsumura is well aware that he has risked his life to save the animals, and has no intention of abandoning tomioka, the city where he was born, in order to continue his mission. The government believes the area is still heavily contaminated and, subject to the permission granted exceptionally to the animal rights group mentioned above, are not currently foreseen further rescue actions targeting animals.
It is only thanks to Naoto Matsumura and his complaints that the Japanese and people around the world are now aware of the negligence of the Japanese government and the real current situation within the exclusion zone. The only hope is that his heroism be recognized and that he becomes an example of how it is possible to accomplish the impossible, driven by their own willpower and love for every living creature.
