No, no technological miracle will be happening in this space anytime soon! So until this body gets to a real internet facility photos in the blog will be wishful thinking. This is my third time up here and each time I have remembered one more thing that I longed for the last trip up. I was brimming with confidence about having all my bases well and truly covered, counted and included. The only spanner in the works is the lack of an internet connection.iPhones have the capacity to be great and when they work I can do stuff like this, posts to blogs.Fingers crossed it stays in a good mood.

We traveled North to Miyako city Iwate prefecture.It was a long trip. We had a rendez-vous with an elderly lady who had for some reason evaded the city hall rule that all owner relinquishments get gassed. She had managed to persuade the folks there that she was a life worth saving and had been in residence for two months. That is rare in city pounds, very rare indeed! The bright side was that she'd circumnavigated the rules, the darker side was that she hadn't been well taken care of during her time "inside". She had a pretty goopy eye infection and a rather matted tail end.I won't get graphic but I'll give you three guesses what her TAIL end was matted with.... Oh, and the first two guesses don't count:-(

Pitan a 12 year old Cardigan Corgi had been surrendered by her elderly owners because her 'Dad' had been hospitalized in a bigger hospital in another city. Okaasan (his wife) was having trouble with the long commute and couldn't care for their short furry family member. So she turned her over to city hall. Pitan must have lived the life of Reilly at home. She was one of the lucky ones and didn't spend her days tied up outside the front of her house. She was an indoor dog, rare in the countryside, and quite possibly a well-table scrapped dog.

In polite company you do not mention a lady's weight, well she is out of earshot now so between you and me, this girl was FAT! She was 14.6kg and anytime their was a lull in activity she plonked herself down, splaying her back legs out at unnatural 45 degree angles either side.She'd look up sweetly and say "Are we done yet? Did I do well? Treat please" Apparently she was down a kilo since entering the pound but her distinct waddle told us she needed to lose more - a lot more! City hall had me fill out all the paperwork and within the hour Pitan was ours. The staff were kind enough to let us know her vet's name and upon leaving the pound we made a beeline for their offices.

Pitan getting vet checked before heading to the JEARS Fukushima base
Another great vet. I haven't had much dealings with vets at home in Ireland so I can't comment on standards there but here it can be a very 'luck of the draw' affair. Pitan had drawn the lucky straw with this country clinic. Albeit, a bit all over the place, her vet was great, to the point and was clearly excited for her when he learned what her future held.These kind of vets are a great source of motivation.