Riku

This is Riku, He is 15 and he is being driven demented by the dust raised from around the reconstruction areas. He has lived a relatively quiet life on a little island in Matsushima bay. There were about 10 houses in his little hamlet off the beaten track. Actually, I'm not sure there was much of a track to call a track. But he lived there with his elderly owners. We met his human mum first. She and all of her 70 something years were hauling water tanks up to her house. The Japanese military had a water station here and residents were coming with receptacles of all shapes and sizes to stock up on freshwater. Can I just point out that this was already 2 months AFTER the earthquake and tsunami? The remote places had still not been reached for basic utilities. Gas and electricity....luxuries.We offered to carry her water tanks the few meters she had left but she assured us she was fine and used to it.

Riku was momentarily unsure of us and then he went into fully fledged meeter and greeter mode. He was fine with the two new faces coming towards him and was quite happy to get his ears scratched. Quick look inside...... ahhhhh that is why he is happy to get his ears scratched. Still on the ok side of an infection. Right, so how do you tell the owner politely the world inside the dogs ears is being irritated by the dust,scratching and should at the very least be cleaned out with tepid water? Dust she has no control over and sure didn't I just see her lugging the only water this house is going to see for a few days, up the hill? Raiding the donations in the back of the car found us with pet wipes for ears, a low dosage hydrocortisone cream, and cotton swabs. It was the next best thing and hopefully this will tide Riku over until owner-san can make the trip to a vet.

Thank you for donating. It is only because people gave those kind of things that we were able to help Riku out.