Dogs can smile too

Today's post is a demonstration of team work and coordination by several animal rescue groups. Every one is there under a different organisation sporting different colours and sometimes using different techniques but the underlying goal is the same, to remove as many animals out of harm's way as possible. Today Last Chance for Animals caught, Kinship Circle transported and JEARS sheltered. Those tasks rotate depending on the calls received, that was the way the cookie crumbled today.

It was to be a 5.30am start but we slept late, so it turned out to be a 6am start instead. From just north of Sendai to Iwaki city via the expressway under normal circumstances should take about 3 hours when abiding by the speed limit. However this was Golden Week, a period of 3 consecutive national holidays when the entire populace of Japan gets time off from work and school simultaneously . No one wants to sit at home, so everyone moves and they move in their droves by any form of transport that will take them elsewhere. Public transport is usually choc-a-bloc, with seats being reserved weeks in advance. And roads? well, don't mention the roads! Nightly news broadcasts the record breaking traffic jams from around the country. Over the years the best approach I have learned to getting out and about in Golden Week is to leave early, crack of dawn early, hence our scheduled departure time.I added an extra hour to the journey length calculations and figured we'd hit the 10am kitty rendez-vous in front of Iwaki station on the nose.....despite it being Golden Week.

The plan was over-cautious to say the least. Speed limits were 'kind of' adhered to in some places and carefully considered in others ;-) My "Leave Early" motto worked like a charm, the roads were empty as empty can be.And that is what had us sitting in front of Iwaki station an hour before our meeting time. Chance to get some Java and find an ATM that works for overseas credit cards. Four banks later we were cashless but caffeinated.

family

7 cats 2 to go.

The reason we had driven to this location was to pick up 3 cats and a dog Throughout the journey there numbers had increased into 5 cats and a dog. When we met our contact  they had 9 cats and a dog. Sure was going to be a squeeze but we could make it work..... somehow.The kitties we picked up that day were primarily found wandering. They were in various states of health and with it, in various moods. They had all been picked up around the border of the exclusion zone and brought to us here down in Iwaki so were going to need their radiation levels checked upon arrival. While traveling up to Niigata they launched into several rounds of kitty choruses. This usually pre-empted a feline organic deposit.We would find a service area on the express way and stop off in the disabled toilets. Giving the kitties cage by cage 'stretch time' and us 'eliminate source of foul odour time'. With everything wiped down and the cuddlies all tickled up we would set off again.Reaching Animal Friends all the furbies passed the radiation level checks. They did not have to proceed to segregated quarantine.A good wash to make them feel better, a vet assessment and as much food as they could dream of in the "incoming" quarters. Then when they were sporting their new do's a photo to post on the "Found" website so hopefully their people will recognise them and they can be re-united.

Re-united. There are so many wonderful wonderful stories of reunions. Everyone loves a happy ending they are so emotionally contagious. Happy endings in the animal rescue world are the highs that keep the volunteers coming back to help out again and again. We landed in on an unexpected high that morning in Iwaki.

Chappy when we met.

Everyone's focus was on how the 5 cats had morphed into 9 and how the cages were going to be arranged in the car. Off to the side was Chappy, a 15 year old Shiba who was clearly unimpressed with all the goings on. In fact she was positively withdrawn. She didn't wag her tail when we got down to her level to say hi. She didn't recoil, she didn't look away, look down, look scared she just looked blue. She sat passively by as the cat shenanigans were happening all around her.She seemed to enjoy getting her chin rubbed as she would proffer it up just a little as you were scratching it. When you stopped she just resumed her depressed posture.

She had escaped the tsunami but her family's house had not. It lay in rubble. Her owner had been evacuated to a no pets evacuation center.When he and Chappy found each other again rather than cause hassle at the center he brought her 'home'. He visited her and fed her every day. But then he and his wife were moved to Government housing in Chiba. Government housing the length and breadth of the country does not allow pets in any shape or form. He asked family members to care for Chappy but she escaped and went back to the pile of rubble she had called home. For a few days the son and daughter-in-law tried to catch her. Chappy wasn't having any of it and she wasn't going anywhere with anyone who weren't her 'direct family'. Home is where the heart is right? The family members got in touch with Animal Friends (JEARS) and through a group AF were working with, Last Chance for Animals, Chappy was finally caught. And now here she was sitting in front of Iwaki station with 9 cats and a whole group of people she didn't know. No wonder things weren't thrilling.

What Chappy didn't know was that her people were in transit to see her, ALL her people. We got the call that they had arrived. She spotted them coming from across the taxi rank.She stood up, she squinted and if she could have spoken she'd probably have said "What the......?!AAAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHH"
The grandchild arrived first with his mother, then a Dad. With each new arrival Chappy's elation reached new levels. I thought if a dog could burst then this was where it was going to happen. We watched as this previous bundle of sadness turned into an overjoyed firecracker of excitedness. Circling, jumping, tail wagging licking and dog laughing*,. When she calmed a bit she only had eyes for her family. She wouldn't move away from them for anything, she gave velcro a run for its money.Then joy would well up in her again and she'd have to do her happy jumpy circle dance.
 But I hadn't seen anything yet Chappy's Dad was yet to come.About 15 minutes later an older man and his wife traversed the taxi lot.The son holding Chappy let her leash go. All the volunteers gasped, one made a lunge for the leash. Chappy was only going one place. She beelined for Dad. He dropped his bag got down on his knees and wrestled with her while trying to get the treats he had brought her out of his backpack. Chappy only wanted him and his pettings. Ok then, when she saw the treats she wanted those too but just to take and put to the side for later.Right now it was all about contact, contact and more contact. She was oblivious to the world around her. She greeted and played with the man's wife but she was a true blue Daddy's girl and she had no qualms about showing it.Whoever coined the phrase jumping for joy did so because they were at a dog reunion. This 15 year old was hitting the high spots and she was over the moon.

Things quieted down as Yoshiko explained what was going to happen from here on. Chappy was coming with us and not going with her people. Her people weren't back on their feet yet and had no place for Chappy and where they were staying had a steadfast nationwide no animal policy. Where they were staying 235km, 3 and a half hours away. Today they had traveled that distance to say hi to Chappy for 20 minutes and their next train back was soon, too soon. The older man teared up and gave the bag of treats to the nearest volunteer. He got close to her face and talked softly to her. She listened attentively. He gave her the final ear scratch and picked up his bag. They all walked away, turning every so often to wave. Chappy's eyes followed them in bewilderment. When they were out of view we gave her some more of the treats her person had brought.Comfort food.She was the last passenger to load into the car and the quietest the whole way to Niigata. We had a crate for her but she needed some extra care and love on the way back so she nestled on the volunteer's lap wondering if what had just happened had been real or just a dream.

*Dog laughing: http://www.petalk.org/LaughingDog.html

Chappy getting some love after her emotional roller coaster

I just couldn't resist..... How the furbies get their way!!

The copy and paste didn't work correctly these "House Rules" are taken from here: http://mythicalmaze.tripod.com/id5.html.The furbs in the pics are my housemates:-)

House Rules...

 

 Dogs are never permitted in the house.  The dog

stays outside in a specially built wooden compartment
named, for very good reason, the dog house.

2.  Okay, the dog can enter the house, but only for
short visits or if his own house is under renovation.

3.  Okay, the dog can stay in the house on a permanent
basis, provided his dog house can be sold in a yard
sale to a rookie dog owner.

4.  Inside the house, the dog is not allowed to run
free and is confined to a comfortable but secure metal
cage.

5.  Okay, the cage becomes part of a two-for-one deal
along with the dog house in the yard sale, and the dog
can go wherever the hell he pleases.

6.  The dog is never allowed on the furniture.

7.  Okay, the dog can get on the old furniture but
not the new furniture.

8.  Okay, the dog can get up on the new furniture until
it looks like the old furniture and then we'll sell
the whole damn works and buy new furniture...upon
which the dog will most definitely not be allowed.

9. The dog never sleeps on the bed.  Period.

10.  Okay, the dog can sleep at the foot of the bed.

11.  Okay, the dog can sleep alongside you, but he's
not allowed under the covers.

12.  Okay, the dog can sleep under the covers but not
with his head on the pillow.

13.  Okay, the dog can sleep alongside you under the
covers with his head on the pillow, but if he snores
he's got to leave the room.

14.  Okay, the dog can sleep and snore and have
nightmares in bed, but he's not to come in and sleep
on the couch in the TV room, where I'm now sleeping.
That's just not fair.

The ladies

15.  The dog never gets listed on the census
questionnaire as "primary resident," even if it's
true

Like chalk and cheese

Before starting into this entry I just want to let you know that there were some problems with posting and for some reason my Waterlines post and the Retracing Steps post have landed on the page in the wrong order. So if you didn't read the latter, scroll down a little and you'll meet Dr. Takahashi of Maruko fame.

I teach. I use chalk. I don't like chalk. I prefer whiteboards. My national university only extended its whiteboard budget to a few classrooms on each floor and for some reason each semester, I always seem to land the rooms with the chalkboards. Cheese on the other hand, is a different matter altogether.I love cheese of all shapes, sizes and smells. In fact the more pungent  the better the cheese.Like chalk and cheese, a saying used to demonstrate vast differences; .

 In Retracing Steps I revisited Rikuzentakata. We got a call while there that Ofunato city hall had a dog. Oh Ofunato! city hall of city halls, the grief you put us through last time for poor Maruko. Just the mention of your downtrodden name was enough to make my hair stand on end. Your absolute conviction that rules were never meant to be flexible and the battle you staged to adhere to that principle was still a healing wound in my mind. What kind of mood were you in this time? I steeled myself, I didn't have the valiant Dr. Takahashi this visit. I was apprehensive about having to do Japanese officialdom on behalf of a poor dog when I regularly stumbled over Japanese officialdom for myself. At least I live through the quagmire of my errors, if I slipped up this time a life was lost.With my heart in my mouth I parked our car in front of the city hall.

We met a local lady who was a friend of the Maruko supporting couple. She had several animal people connections, from vets to groomers to folks who just wanted to help out. She led the way, as I was mentally psyching myself up for Battle Royale part II. We had just crossed the threshold when a grey haired man in the city hall's working uniform got out of the elevator. He gasped, beamed and bowed deeply. I remained stone-faced I had a showdown to attend to and I was fired up. I had settled on what I thought was the perfect combination of polite yet firm, Japanese words  for the occasion and by golly I was going to use them. Our leading lady stopped, turned our direction and started the introduction formalities. Wait! What? Ohhhhhhhh! the penny dropped! Officialdom in Japan changes the 1st of April every year. My previous paper pushing nemesis had been transferred and in his place this smiling affable middle aged vet. Someone in my heart started a very loud chorus of Hallelujah, my head told it to be quiet because we weren't finished yet.

We were asked to drive the car around the back to meet our charge, a larger side of medium, rusty, Shiba cross. He was in the cage Maruko had been scared out of her wits in. He on the other hand was quite chilled and seemed to be enjoying the change of scenery. He had been found strolling around the river, no-one around knew him. His posters were posted but to no avail. He was a friendly fellow and took to his leash without any problems. He took us on a short exploratory walk where he conducted his business and then was quite prepared to leave.Except while he was on his walk the vet asked if we had room for a Momma cat and her two still nursing babies.A quick phone call to the shelter where they would possibly go and approval was received. Yes, we had room at the inn for this little family. Some rearranging of vehicle contents was called for and the two cats we already had with us lucked out and got shotgun on the co-pilot's lap for the long journey home.What a huge difference from a few short weeks before. They took our contact information, thanked us profoundly and said they would be in touch when the next case came up.There were 4 officials bowing deeply to the back of our car as we pulled out of the pound.

One more stop before we could hit the "fast" roads. A rendez vous with Romeo and Juliette. Two miniature dachshunds.Their young owner had had their recently built house razed to the ground and her vet was housing her pups in his own house. 8 animals and three humans made the journey to the halfway point of Sendai that day. 4 of the animals for temporary shelter the other 4 looking for forever families.

Water lines

I'm standing up.The waterline is visible above shelves just below ceiling on the inside of this house. It stayed like that for an hour when the waters rose.

Front garden. Water line across the windows.

Water lines.They are everywhere. In the majority of photos I took of people with backdrops, there they are, lurking discretely on walls, fences, trees,windows and even trucks that some how managed to become immovable.A silent yet glaring reminder that there was water here. Here, where there shouldn't have been.
     Belle is an 11 year old arthritic German Shepherd. When we met, she was basking in the sun, but with one eye vigilantly observing the red cross volunteers set up station across from her. We approached cautiously hoping to catch her owners at home to see if they were alright for pet supplies. Belle, the ever watchful guard dog, brought the other eye out of resting and observed our approach with all the aplomb of a queen regarding her subjects. "Yessssssssss! what can I do for you?"  her weary eyes relayed. We edged slowly closer. Belle's regal demeanour was shattered as she awkwardly found her feet to do the guard dog thing she had spent so many years perfecting.  We proffered hands for her to sniff and let her know we had love to share. We passed the smell test and she plonked herself back down on the futon in front of her hand made kennel. A kennel that remarkably had withstood the torrents of water the tsunami had brought inland.

As with many dogs in Japan, Belle's owners had her tethered. A very unfamiliar sight to me when I first came 16 years ago. One I am still not 100% comfortable with seeing today. My furbies have the run of the house (see earlier recliner mention!) and would only be tied to something if under anaesthesia at the vet clinic!  If an animal is to be tied out then a longer chain/rope would appease my sensibilities more.But that is just me. I am not a one to preach or change a country's habit. Some topics you can raise in conversation but need to be aware that things won't change over night.Obviously I believe my way is right or I wouldn't mention it but equally the tether-ers believe their way is correct too. Especially when it appears in advice sheets from city hall that citizens whose dogs are tied out should keep the chain/rope short so as not to bother passers-by.

 Belle was used to her tethered life and luckily for her her people had the foresight to disobey city hall guidelines. She had an ample supply of rope and had she been a spring chicken she probably would have been able to bound across the street to greet the treat laden volunteers.But in her silver years her body had taken on a stooped stance and she shuffled when she moved. She had no external injuries just a few healed over old dog bumps and hairless patches on her elbows from the hard ground. Normal wear and tear for a dog of her years.The aches and pains of ageing clearly laid heavily on her joints when she moved which is why her tsunami story caught us off guard.

Chez Belle

She had, as always, been tied to her kennel when the first waves came in. Her kennel floor doesn't touch the ground so she would have been able to get inside for a while to dry her feet. But when the larger waves started to flow there was no keeping dry. There was also no escape. The leash buckle held fast to her collar. When the waters got deeper and she couldn't touch the ground any more she'd have been swimming against the onslaught of seawater. If you have seen any tsunami videos you'll know what a fierce current this flow of water created.Yet there was arthritic 11 year old Belle swimming for her life against it. When the flow abated the water stayed high for over an hour according to the neighbours who "evacuated" to the second floor of their homes. Belle also found refuge on the 'second floor of her home'. Except.... her second floor was well below the water line and well, as you know she was still attached at the neck. So for one hour, this old dame clung to life as death had a near vice grip on her collar.With odds stacked against her, she survived.

I didn't meet her before the events of March 11th and I wouldn't have met her if it weren't for March 11th.Yet her story of resilience and the innate desire to stay on this side of the pearly gates will stick with me.Her shelter still stands and she has two futons to sleep on, one on the sunny side, one in the shade. She is still tethered, I still don't like the idea. But had she not been she most definitely would not have survived.Cheers Belle! May you have many more years in front of you and may all of them be tsunami free!

Retracing steps

Dr.Takahashi is on my left. look just over his shoulder, you can see the water lines.

As you know by now this trip north was my second. I hoped to pop in and say hi to a few of the four-leggeders I met on my first trip and to touch base with the "two-leggeders" who were STILL on the front lines! On my second day we did an animal pick up run and our final destination was Animal Friends Niigata. This has been the primary stop for animals not only from the nuclear exclusion zone but also from the entire length of the devastated coast. Two American NGO's/NPO's (Kinship Circle and Last Chance for Animals) have been working with three Japanese based no-kill animal rescue groups.( Heart Tokushima, Japan Cat Network, Shiga and Animal Friends Niigata) and all groups have until the last week been bringing their rescues directly to Niigata. Last week saw the first transport of dogs to one of the outer lying shelters to make room for all the incoming pets. I missed their departure by 10 hours and with it I missed Maruko. She now resides in Shikoku. I am hoping to get a picture or two to pass on to Dr. Takahashi. That may take a brief detour onto the pages of this blog:-)
            Speaking of Dr. Takahashi, He and his staff are back to business as almost usual.There is still evidence of water lines around his office. They managed to evacuate all but one of their four legged residents at the time of the tsunami.They just didn't have enough hands. The good news is that the staff had the foresight to put the furbie on the second floor and tales of survival were shared on everyone's return. It gave me great great pleasure to be able to show him the Maruko's story video I created.Just in case you didn't see it the first time, I will shamelessly post it here again        .m(-.-)m    
                         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aivh7fXE85U&feature=fvsr

At Animal Friends I was able to meet up with Fu, Mi and Shuu.The three kitties we took in from a large Rikuzentakata evacuation center. Mi was her usual cute kitten self, Shuu a little unsure of this "new" human and Fu as adorable and loving as ever. I took a lot of photos and some video because I knew the next day I'd be heading out to where their family were.

Fu

Shuu

Mi

After a very delayed start, we finally made it to Rikuzentakata, a town frequently featured on the national news here because of the extent of the damage caused.We stuck our heads in the main office and introduced ourselves. I explained I had been here three weeks previously with an animal rescue group and that we were back to see if any one had animal needs.We were told we could set up in the morning, like the last time, but if we liked we could give the supplies in now. Before doing that I had one quick phone call to make. "Moshi Moshi! Konbanwa, Kate desu!", "Where am I? Ehmm, downstairs by the entrance" Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh click! Five seconds later a tracksuit clad lady was tearing down the school hallway in my direction, excitedly repeating my name. She unexpectedly bear hugged me and we got down to cat talk. I showed her all the pictures and videos I had taken the day before and she teared up.Each new photo would see her put her hand over her mouth and whisper her kitty's name. She tickled each kitty photo under the chin or pat them on the head telling them she wouldn't be too long more. She asked them if they were being good and eating well. I told her to take the phone and show the photos and videos to her human family here. She came back 10 minutes later red eyed and puffy faced. We hugged good night and I said I would see her tomorrow.

            We  settled down for the night. 10.30pm, earliest night I have had in a very long time. It was bucketing down and the wind was picking up.The safest, driest place was the shelter of our car. Parked beside the Japanese military trucks we blanketed ourselves up and attempted getting comfortable in 'Hotel Honda Odyssey'. The name sounds so much more luxurious than the experience! We woke several times during the night because we were convinced we were experiencing earthquakes. Nope, just the wind we were told.  Like with any 'camping trip' we woke up with the first light of day, i.e. way too early to feel remotely human without copious amounts of caffeine. Our scheduled start was 9am, it was still before 6. We drove our cars around to the front of the school and watched the world surrounding it wake up. Only two dogs were were still there from the last time. One seemed very depressed and wouldn't let us approach him very unlike our previous meeting. He looked fed up, as I can well imagine he was, at week 9 of bike shed life. Some treats were left within reach and we hoped his owner would show up at our session at 9am.


           The other little fellow, was an energetic little black pomeranian .He had smiles and love to share. Everyone was his friend. He excitedly welcomed us and indeed anyone who came within his range. I didn't see anyone with him last time but this time I saw a lady grooming him as we were leaving. I stopped the car and jumped out to tell her about the possibilities of sheltering her dog if she was having trouble. It wasn't her dog and she didn't know whose dog it was. She just stopped by to make sure his water was fresh and to 'groom' him everyday. Groom him with her fingers. I knew we had a brush in the car. I had brought it 2,600 km from Okinawa. Now the question was"where in the car?' We are talking needle in a haystack here. We had crates, dog food, cat food, human food, beds, shampoos, meds, Sleeping bags, extra clothing for the cold....... the only thing we didn't have was the proverbial kitchen sink!! I dug deep and  found the buried treasure, right next to pet shampoo sheets for small dogs. Perfect!! I went back to the lady and she gladly accepted the donations.

      I wished her the best and gave her a flyer in Japanese about the group's activities. She thanked me and then said wait a moment. Out of her pocket she pulled an origami frog and handed it to me.I have often received paper cranes in my time here but never a frog. The cranes are a symbol of long life, my mind raced, frogs? She explained that the Japanese word for frog is Kaeru which sounds identical to Kaeru meaning 'return' the distinction is that the kanji characters are different. She said she was giving me this in the hopes that the happiness I had just shared with her would be returned to me some day..........................................    

A simple but precious treasure

Winds of change

Having said I would start at the beginning I find myself leaping forward into real time as today marked a momentuous occasion in the lives of pet owners around the beleaguered nuclear plant in Fukushima.While it took a mere seven days for the earthquake and tsunami issues to take a back seat in the international media.The radiation problems would frequently raise their ugly heads again and again when there were protests in Germany, discussions in Britain and sit ins across the States. The main focus of these awareness raising campaigns were the dangers of nuclear power generation and the consequences on society if something went wrong.

 Sunday saw a march through Tokyo calling attention to the plight of the animals left behind in the 20km zone.

Japan has had quite a few quake related nuclear accidents in the last decade. They have been minor belches as compared with the current full-scale manifestation of chronic acid reflux. People have been "re-located" temporarily in those situations but never as long or as strictly enforced as this mandatory evacuation. People were told they would be one or two days away from home. At the 6 week mark it became a mandatory evacuation and people were given a few short hours to get in and out of the area and retrieve anything of importance/ value they felt they would need. One person per household donned the tyvek suit and protective eyewear and sped into the zone to grab everything on the lists compiled by family members waiting in the evacuation centers.

Stop for a minute. You have an hour. Grab everything that is important to you and leave forever. No turning back. 60 minutes for you ALONE to gather a lifetime of mementos.......for EVERY member of your family...... not to mention all things official, but I am assuming you know where those documents are and that would be the easy part. Your dogs are thrilled to see you they wag their tails, yeah!!!! My person is back! You enter the house your cats practically trip you up with every step you take as they wend their way around your moving legs. You stop for a minute to pick out a piece of paper you can feel the purrs vibrating against your leg as little miss kitty brushes the length of her body past your shins..............Now walk away. Leave them there, pour out whatever food is left but leave your pets where they are. They are not allowed to evacuate, people only. No pets permitted.Once you leave today, the "zone" will be sealed and your beloved furbies in there with it.How would you react?

The Japanese have a long standing reputation as law abiding citizens. In these circumstances they were no different, they did as told. With precedents, residents from around the nuclear plants have been allowed back in after a day or two.According to form this should have been no different, except it was. Very different. When the exclusion zone was at advisory level. Animal rescue groups were going in and finding all types of animals running loose, tethered animals who were skin and bones for lack of food and water and the worst sight of all were the dead animals most still tied to their kennels in their own front gardens.

Every so often the government would come across a hold out like the man below. This 83 year old told the police he would rather die than leave without his dog. I know this makes me look fickle, but I am requesting permission for him to be added to my list of heroes that have come to light in the wake of these horrible events. This story was taken from Kazuyoshi Nagashima san's blog. A Kanazawa politician with a big heart for the animals.

富岡町に住む83歳のこの男性は震災時から3日間ほど避難拒否をしていたといいます。
しかし、逃げるよう説得された時に「ペットはダメ」と言われたものの、「犬を連れて行っちゃダメなら俺は死ぬ」などと主張し何とか連れ出すことを認めてもらったと話していました。


I always start these entries and say to myself "Right, this is going to be short". Obviously I still haven't got my head around the definition of short!!  So finally to the news that was released to-day that made me take the leap to current time was that  the government has finally seen the light and will be letting people evacuate their animals.From pets to pigs, a lot of the animals will be catered for. From the bottom of my heart I just hope they survived this far.

Hitting the ground running.......................

First of all the principle behind 'hitting the ground running' is that you are unencumbered and good to go literally from the moment you cross the starting line. Having sent all received non-perishable donations via post that left my personal weight allowance free for things that had to get there in more of a hurry. Flea/tick preventatives, food and veterinary supplies which were being sucked up by the vacuum of need were going with me personally to feed the black hole this awful disaster has created. I carted a very manageable 20kilos of donations and thankfully didn't overly upset any sensitive Skymark airlines counter staff at the airport by being excessively weighed down.Sure don't they have enough to deal with?

Any way, 12 hours after locking my university office door I was standing at the door of my Golden week home. A house in the suburbs of Sendai which has become the staging area for volunteer operations. A somewhat central point between the Niigata receiving shelter and the affected areas. I use the word "somewhat" because while the journey from the East coast to Sendai remains constant at 4 hours the affected areas range from 2 hours to 10 hours drive away from the house. The scale of this disaster is unprecedented. The coastal area affected by the tsunami is much longer than the length of my own country, Ireland.

This time my application to volunteer was accepted by an American volunteer group, Kinship Circle, who have international disaster experience. Read Hurricane Katrina, Earthquake in Chile, Landslides in Brazil. They are there for four-legged victims of disasters. I wanted to be there too! their disaster experience and JEARS' Japan experience promised to make an absolutely formidable force for the animals and pet owners affected. I was looking forward to being part of the bigger picture....... so was the youngest cat when I got back home!

Well,Well,Well! Long time no post!

I haven't been the best of a blogster have I? I know a bad workman always blames their tools but I will duly accept half the fault for having tried to convert to the cult of St. Mac while volunteering in a very challenging environment. I am starting to believe that I am genetically wired to be a Windows user  although I feel obliged to admit that the Macs have have won me over with their sleek, smooth, good looks. I never thought myself to a 'cover judger' but this 'book' won me over at first sight!!

I'm in Niigata airport ready to fly home with a head full of stories bursting to be written down. The beginning is always a great place to start so it is there I will share with you first.

Some of my own crew "pre-approving" the donations!

Collecting donations. I put the usual ads in the local classifieds and received a steady trickle of responses. I posted it as my status on Facebook and was 'liked' and commented upon by many. Then an AMAZING lady, Amanda, took my pebble-in-the-pond style requests to the public and made them into an avalanche of donations. She wholeheartedly put her back into it and I was inundated with all manner of pet items and financial donations. Now how to get all of this up to where it was needed. Two days before leaving I took a trip to the airport to check with my airline if, given the circumstances, they would allow a volunteer exceed their weight allowance to bring donated supplies to pet owners and animals in need in the Tohoku disaster area. Emmmm no! Clear cut and straightforward "No". I took the line that these particular rules were made for times and situations when normality was ...well, normal, and that the area I was heading to with these well intentioned donations was far from that status. Again, the words a person on a mission doesn't like to hear were repeated, " No you can't. The rules are the rules." Thanks Sky mark airlines for adding fuel to my fire, I was going to get them there with or without you. Would have been nicer with, but hey where there is a will there is a way, right?

Post office: Turned out to be surprisingly cheap. I was able to get several  15 -20 kg packets out with them. But had a meltdown over the last and heaviest package. The large dog crate I donated myself which I had filled with donated dog food. The one I had weighed so carefully the night before, the one that read under the 30kilo limit at home but seemed to have put on weight in the half mile between the house and the Post Office. Again the same line was used and the same reception of said line was received in return. (I really am going to have to work on my lines!!) I was so utterly disappointed about the bureaucratic inflexibilities I encountered. There was absolutely no budging the staff over the set boundaries created for 'normal circumstances'.

I wished I had my camera so I could show them their fellow country men receiving these donations the last time. To explain the story of the middle-aged woman who broke down in tears when we asked her did she have enough food for her dog. To share pictures of Ryu-chan's life in a cardboard box outside a freezing evacuation center in Iwate until our donations gave him a crate and blankets. Or if they were cat people maybe they would have been moved just a little by Fu, Mi and Shou who had lived in their owner's car for three weeks.Having these stories in my head made me more determined. That package was heading North.

Since I didn't have the time before flying as I had morning classes to teach on departure day, my wonderful better half found a courier service that was ready to oblige with the task of dispatching the crate and food.　All donations were divided up between the three JEARS shelters The tangibles went to Tokushima and Shiga prefectures and the monetary donations went to offset vet bills in the Niigata shelter. 

Counting down

I can hardly keep my head on straight let alone focus. I have 3 days of normality before returning to chaos. Three days of business as usual before unadulterated mayhem. It is mind blowing to know that in this same country only a couple of hours up the road pandemonium reigns supreme.At the very same time I was sunning myself on an Okinawan seawall just T-shirt clad and flip-flopped last weekend, someone in an Iwate school gym/shelter was willing their coat to close a little better and their new shoes to be half a size bigger.

I'm sitting here at home with one of my fourleggeders on the kitchen chair beside me,  another on the recliner (no-less), another actually using a pet bed(!) and the newest addition is honing her mouse catching skills upstairs lest that be a problem for us in the future.My blessings are counted and they are all within my reach.Overseas family by phone and furbs by just crinkling a treat bag. Yes, I know the correct later half of that sentence should read " ...and furbs by calling their name." but they don't do names anymore they have informed me, they do names ONLY if followed by treats. They have us well trained, and we are only too happy to tickle exposed bellies, throw slimy half chewed toys or (even though it took a while) give up the recliner:-)

Tonight I spoke with the lady who gave the group her three cats to mind. She was upbeat even though she is still living in a school gym 6 weeks after losing everything.I admire her resilience, she has been told they will start moving people into temporary quarters "soon" and that the latest they will be housed will be by July. In my head I raised my voice and said "WAIT.......Did you say JULY?  I can't even begin to imagine" however the words that I put to my voice were along the lines of "not long now". I sure hope her number comes up sooner rather than later.

She had been in touch with the shelter and they had told her the cats were doing well. I'm going to be at the shelter by the end of this week. I promised I would take photos of them and send them to her.She is missing them like crazy and is worried if they'll recognize her after so long.While the photos help, a cuddle or five would definitely go a lot further. Well, all you animal lovers out there know that yourselves! Go on,  give the furries in your life a snuggle right now, because you CAN:-)

I've the last of my donation pick ups tomorrow evening. I'll most definitely be overweight again. THANK YOU for making me so. This is one time it really doesn't matter.I only wish I had more hands oh and of course baggage allowance.

Ding Ding Ding!!! Round TWO

This is the last year in my current job and a fact that is not overtly advertised was uncovered ten days ago. I  found out that we are entitled to 5 days of volunteer leave per annum! Add that to my upcoming Golden Week holidays and I am free and clear to head north for 9 days to volunteer for the animals again.I'll be using two of those unique days and save the rest for a little further down the line. That way,  further into the academic year a banal one day mid-week national holiday combined with one personal day could mean 8 days of dedication to Tohoku. Sorry for the lapse into numbers there, but juggling the personal days, with national holidays, with "refresh" days, volunteer days, "mental" days and "special circumstance"days may seem like hair splitting to folks in a western work environment but it is power for the course at this National University. The skill and dexterity required to navigate officialdom and kanji-dense paperwork is a constant eye-opener, both in literal and metaphoric terms.

Bureaucratically signed off on, I am endorsed to hit the road........... as long as I wear a mask. I will, and I shall provide photographic evidence thereof. I'll use my personal weight allowance to get animal supplies north with me but it is only 23kg/ 50-ish lbs of checked in luggage as in only 5  or 6 bags of pet food. I use my  carry-on allowance for personal stuff, you know like a change of clothes or two.------side note!!!---- Here, (as in , "in Japan") you are allowed to have a "shopping bag" full of omiyage (souvenirs), in addition to your carry on bags when boarding. On my last trip to Tohoku the bewildered X-ray machine staff were scratching their heads at my outwardly touristy "I Love Okinawa" emblazoned bag filled to breaking point with pet pee pads.They dutifully scanned them and now they grace the floors of the wonderful Niigata shelter I had the privilege of volunteering for.

I copied the "wish-list" from the JEARS page. If anyone wants to help out, I am more than willing to bring this stuff up with me or even ship it to one of the shelters in the JEARS coalition. They predict that the kitten formula and puppy formula is going to see a hike in demand as the Fukushima cats and dogs that have been let loose to fend for themselves since the evacuation advisories mix and match.This, paired with the fact that spaying and neutering is not as common in Japan as it is in the west when it comes to responsible pet ownership should see a population explosion within in the next few months.This formula is nutrient dense and can also be used to provide sustenance to the animals coming in from areas their owners had not expected to be gone for very long from.These guys are often in very very poor condition.

COMFORT  ITEMS

 fleece blankets        warm clothes for dogs-all sizes                dog toys   cat toys    scratching boxes or posts        washable dog/cat beds or pillows                             treats

 HOUSEKEEPING

 newspapers (for cages)

 rolls of plastic “potty” bags  (100Yen store)        pet sheets

 bath towels             washcloths                               paper towels

 laundry detergent    dish detergent          heavy duty trash bags                              antibacterial hand soap (volunteers)

 CATS DAILY CARE

 canned cat food   (Anything high quality as incoming kitties will need  al the nutrition they can get)  

 dry cat food    (Anything high quality as incoming kitties will need  al the nutrition they can get)                                 

(KMR) kitten milk formula  sturdy food and water bowls       katsuobushi             litter boxes

 litter box sand         cat shampoo/conditioner          nylon collars

 TRANSPORT AND SHELTER

 dog crates and kennels            cat carrier

DOGS DAILY CA RE

 (Anything high quality as incoming doggies will need  al the nutrition they can get)  

 canned dog food   

 dry dog food         (Anything high quality as incoming doggies will need  al the nutrition they can get)  

sturdy food and water bowls   Puppy milk formula     Epiotic Ear Wash Liquid

nylon collars and leads (all sizes)            dog shampoo/conditioner

 MEDICAL

 sterile gauze            saline solution

 bandages for dogs and cats      antiseptic wipes for pets         cotton balls              Q-tips

Pedialite (Non-flavor, non-sugar re-hydration food for infants (good for dehydrated malnourished animals)

Maruko's story the you tube version:-)

Maruko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAdW_2sfZxk

There wasn't a rude name under the sun that my computer didn't get called while making this video. As mentioned before, I am technologically UNgifted and am of the generation where computer games were rectangles that went up or down on either side of a screen rebounding a square 'ball' back and forth. Today's cyberlife is foolproof, which is precisely the reason I can't get in;-)

So I said "watch this space" right? Well, sorry for not having given you that much to look at since I have been back. Work started and the nose got re-positioned to align with the grindstone again. In the in between parts I have been keeping my volunteer experiences very much to the fore. I managed to secure a donation of 500 packs of really awesome Indian curry to the very hard-working volunteers based out of Niigata. If you are in Japan I thoroughly recommend you try these 'excellent-for-camping-trips-bags-of-delicious-ness':-) They do mail order too.One tip, go with the milder ones first because they sure do pack some punch in the spicy stakes.
http://www.indojin.com/zstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=53_36

So what next? I am heading up North again for 9 days and will be volunteering with the same group. I will not be using paypal .....at all......ever again if I can help it. As I said before, they froze the account and have not been forthcoming as to what happens next.I will keep donaters informed personally rather than publicly.It is a bit of a shame that a person genuinely wanting to be proactive has so much red tape between them and the good deed.This time I'm choosing the "simple" route, if anyone wants to send me on my way with a bag of dog food, a cat scratcher or a hamster wheel, I will be more than willing to take them on their behalf. Same goes for cash in brown paper envelopes. That will be used to whittle down the recently replenished pet food section at a branch of Costco in Tokyo.
earthquakepets@gmail.com if you would like to ask me any questions.

Aaaand she's back.

My two feet are now back on the island I call home. It is great to be here and not there but also hard to slip back into my "normal" life. Add seven days of very little sleep to the cocktail of devastation, language barriers and confused animals and you have yourself a potent concoction of frazzled emotions. That is of course if emotions can be "frazzled". I know they can be 'mixed' but that just seemed too tame a word to use when trying to paint a vivid picture. So back to meetings, orientations, schedules and appointments............. hmmmmmm the box I am trying to put my northern experience into so I can file it away is not closing properly.

I haven't found anything yet that is more mentally satisfying than volunteering for a cause you wholeheartedly believe in. It is so important not to take the initial nay sayers to heart especially when you are travelling alone. On day two I got an anonymous email from a reader of a site that I had posted a "donations wanted" ad.That person chose to douse my good intentions in barrage of unfounded accusations.  My plan still very much in its infancy, faltered as I wondered whether or not I should proceed. It was at that crossroads I stopped to gather my thoughts. That person's assumptions were based on her/his experience of society not mine. Thankfully, my possibly naive opinion has us humans marked down as "at the core: good". As you have read I ignored the signpost that pointed to the town named Complacency.

I had the absolute pleasure of volunteering not only with people from all over Japan, but people from all over the world. I'm Irish Kate from Okinawa and the Maruko story below unfolded while working together with British Karl from Hokkaido, American Susan from Shiga and American Ron from, well, America. The volunteers are coming in on a rotation basis as everyone puts in the time they can under the JEARS.org umbrella. Some were there for 10 days, others 3 and mighty mighty Susan and Isabella from the start.There is still a lot of work to be done and a lot of support to be given. I'm not going to sit back and check this off my list yet. Watch this space!

Some of the Rikuzentakata volunteer group with donated road trip snacks. (Ron P's photo)

Notification of change of address

Ryu-chan

This little white haired boy looks the image of the dog that advertises cellphones on Japanese TV. He had as much personality but was not of stocky model type build;-) You know the way that goes!

He was the very first "meeter and greeter" at the Junior high school evacuation center for me and he gladly showed me around his cardboard box. (pictured on top). His caretaker was a densely clad young man in his mid thirties. I met him at 6.30am before people were 'supposed' to be up and when the temperatures were  still attempting to freeze the words leaving the mouths of speakers by clouding them in wisps of vapour. He was just checking that Ryu had made it through the overnight low temperatures and was feeding him his meagre  breakfast. He was the very first owner on the pet scene (by a long shot) that day. The volunteers approached enthusiastically looking for some good to do but Ryu's guardian refused help on all levels, even to change out his dog's cardboard box for a proper kennel. Hmmmmm, head scratching and  doushiyoh doushiyoh?  (What to do? what to do?) Our naive expectations of  everyone who (clearly) needed help (by our standards), actually wanting help was a bubble bursting experience. Putting my basic communicative Japanese to the test I talked to the guardian about Ryu's uncanny likeness to the cell phone dog. Yes, he admitted, Ryu got that a lot. but he didn't let it go to his ego:-) Ahhhhh good, a dog with a sound head on his shoulders. Gradually I came to the conclusion that Ryu actually shared his quirky personality with his person.
In most coastal towns where the tsunami hit there were warning sirens that went off, alerting citizens to the imminent danger. This man had heard them too. He told me he grabbed Ryu put him in the car and then went to get his parents. As politely as possible I asked were his parents ok. Once I received an affirmative answer I nudged him on the elbow and said "So you got Ryu first, are your parents still talking to you? " He almost bust a gut laughing, then sheepishly said they hadn't realised yet and made the gesture of "shhhhhhh" It was our secret. Swear you won't tell him I told you?:-)

Later in the day I saw Ryu had moved house to a newer more densely padded soft sided carrier case. I'm glad the owner accepted help. That is what we were there for and will continue to be as long as there are animals in need.What we as enthusiastic volunteers have to take from this experience is not "Yes, yes yes, we were right all along" but rather a lesson in communication. Build bonds, become another PERSON to the recipient not just a "swoop- in-giver". Even though he refused help outright at the start, eventually he accepted a bag of food and a new kennel for Ryu-chan. We are thrilled at the outcome, we only hope we tread softly enough over his pride that he is too.

Bad news from Paypal & a dog that made me laugh

So it seems that Paypal have labelled me a "Scam". The full fourlegged bellies in Niigata and Iwate can attest that I am not. If you were thinking of donating please do so at this link http://jears.org/ they are the group I am volunteering with.I will work out the issues that paypal have with my account but for the moment either donate above or hold onto the green.Thank you to all those who have donated thus far. Fortunately I had a lull in my donations and it seems the account was frozen after I had emptied it for the Costco trip.

Speaking of full bellies in northern Japan, how about this for a picture? The group got word of two dogs inside the exclusion zone that needed to be picked up. While nearing the area, the van driver spotted an old dog meandering in the street ahead. He was dizzy with hunger and as weak as they come. She had only brought travel crates for the two she knew she was going to pick up and the rest of the space was taken up by supplies.Obviously she wasn't going to "walk on by" so the old fella got loaded into the van where he literally thought he had died and gone to heaven. Having most likely not had a morsel to eat in the last two weeks and his gait verifying his compromised state, suddenly he was surrounded by a gift from the Gods a truck load of food. He lost control, not just a bit, but with every last sinew of muscle in his skinny body he launched himself at the supplies. Very little escaped his rapture! A complete and utter mess was created, soft food pouches were pierced and leaked everywhere several bags of dog food were ripped open and kibble littered the floor.I couldn't help chuckling to myself when organising the clean up, I mean can you imagine? talk about winning the lottery:-)

This was all intact before the "Inspections officer" got to it:-)

Fortunately very little went to waste, in total about half a bag of dog food. We used the opened bags and pouches with the animals already at the shelter and where feasible we taped up bags and sent them out again.

Tears and their lessons

Thank you to those powers that be that found me in front of a computer to write this. The phone's battery was not coping well with my long-winded stories.Not to mention that one finger typing does get a little brain frazzling:-)

On a euphoric high from our successful trip to the city pound for Maruko, I turned into the grounds of the evacuation center to rendez vous with a lady who was giving us three cats to mind until she got a place of her own.I saw a lady roughly shaking another. The older of the two was shorter and looking up to the lady who was bawling her eyes out, all the while encouraging her to be strong. Crash! I landed back down into reality.I didn't know what this young woman's story was but it was enough to make her weep in public. I put my head down and tried to pass their sadness unnoticed so as to not disturb them. I diverted my eyes and they landed on a car covered in dog stickers.

We are trying to help here on several levels, at the evacuation centers, at the pounds and individual to individual. If while out we heard dogs barking we would stop and see if the owner had enough food for the animal. If we saw indications that people were pet owners (like pet stickers on cars for example)  we would also ask if they needed anything. We visited an old folks home that had been turned into an evacuation center and while setting up a lady had walked by with her dog. We asked her with bags of food in our arms if she had enough food. Her instant well of tears told us no.She had been feeding her dog scraps for the last two weeks and hadn't been able to get any dog food at all.We loaded her up with as much as she could carry all the while tears streaming down her face.

At the same center we were getting ready to leave and a young girl who had been standing off to the side watching us unload our supplies of dog and cat food plucked up the courage to approach us. She fiddled with her hair nervously and asked if we had any rabbit food. I knew we didn't at that moment but that I would check when we got back to the main center we were based out of. She looked deflated and resigned to the idea. Everyone thinks of dogs and cats at these times because they are the most popular companion animals.I felt that we had let her down by our focus on the obvious. When we returned and were reloading the vans from our main vehicle a volunteer found a bag of rabbit food. It was brought back up that same afternoon. While I wasn't there to see it, all accounts were of a very grateful teary eyed teen.

I didn't know what to do with my own tears. They were always there, just out of everyone's view. No one really needed an emotional volunteer who had the luxury of walking away from it all at the end of the day to be a catalyst for more visits into their own grief. Not because I felt the need to be a "strong person" but because it kind of seemed likemy tears were selfish given what these people had been through. They had more rights to tears than I ever had here.I watched events unfold before me where my breath got caught so tightly between my mouth and lungs that the rim of the tear resevoir overflowed just a bit.Only once could I not get those floodgates closed properly.

We ran to the truck to get a few bags of dog food for the sticker covered car people. They had just started the engines and were preparing to leave. I got there and saw it was the older of the 2 ladies I had noticed on my way in.I asked if she needed dog food, she said she had been sorted out and was fine but that the 3 cat lady was waiting for us. We crossed the car park and there was the middle aged lady who had been getting a right shaking from the person we had just offered dog food to. She was calm, straightfaced and totally composed. She introduced us to her three adopted cats. Mi-chan 7 months old, Shu-chan 4 years old and Fu-chan 4 years old and paralysed since birth. They had been living in the back of her tiny box car for almost three weeks. They were amazingly friendly with all the volunteers and were deep in conversation with each other while their owner was telling us about their needs and health conditions.

Fu, Mi (tilted head) and Shu

These three were being temporarily being handed over to the Animal Friends shelter in Niigata. Their owner had no home to call her own anymore. She would sit in her car in the parking lot of the evacuation center and hang out with her cats for a few hours each day making sure they got the maximum doses of loving, cuddles and food she could fit in.They were also her little corner of sanity, her escape from the physical and bureaucratic mayhem that was being lived through outside the 2 doors of her car. Handing them over, even for a short while, seemed unfathomable. I admired her strength, she didn't know that I had seen her before she was introduced to us. I caught a glimpse into what she was feeling yet here she was being calm cool and collected. Time came to say goodbye and she sobbed softly as she told each kitty to be good and that she would be coming for them as soon as she could. Again I found myself hiding my face in the presence of this woman. If she saw my tears what would happen to her heavily dented floodgates? Too late, she looked up to say "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu" (Please take care (of them)) and saw my rivers. She smiled through her tears and said thank you. We hugged silently.

A volunteer takes Mi and Fu to the van for the journey "home"

As it turned out, our departure was delayed by the late return of one of our other vehicles. I met the lady again about an hour later. Both of us composed and talking as if nothing happened. She asked about our volunteering, the group and the volunteers themselves. She told us a bit about her story and my awe of what these people are going through just sky rocketed.When it truly came the time to say farewell she confided that her belief that she was doing the right thing was bolstered when she saw me cry. To her it said we actually truly cared for the animals we were taking in. She and Maruko's rescuer had got to talking and they ushered a young girl back into the center. She came out with boxes of juice and rusks for our journey back. We refused them. How could we take something from people who had nothing else? They insisted, we insisted, they insisted again. 'We have nothing, true, but if we have something to give, let us' this is Japanese tradition. We picked our jaws off the ground for what this lesson in humanity taught us. They don't want to just be recipients they need to feel that they are a part of their own journey to self sufficiency. While handouts do make these early days run a little bit easier, ultimately they see that sitting and waiting for those handouts does not make them proactive in the whole recovery process.

A former Fukushima resident

Maruko's journey (Part 2)

We had been told she was a large dog, but by the time we got there she had put on about 40lbs, grown a foot taller and been renamed Cujo because of the rumour mills and hearsay surrounding the case. The "Aggressive" label tends to bizarrely increase the animal's dimensions. Add to that the tendency that Japanese "large" whether it is T-shirt size or dog size tends to be quite a bit smaller than the western large size. We were convinced she was going to be far bigger than our largest crate. So out the back with us, and there in the dog catcher's truck was Maruko. A skinny scruffy slip of dog, who was beside herself with fear. She would sound off if anybody came within 5 feet of her cage. Junior was standing smugly off to the side arms folded on a belly he shouldn't have had for his age. This was not an unacheivable task it was just going to take some time. More time than usual and more time than city workers had to spare given the current situation the citizens found themselves in. It took 40 minutes to build up Maruko's trust in us so we could put on a slipleash and slowly let her out of the cage.She made a beeline for the grass and made two lengthy deposits. A bit of a short trot around the periphery and then to try and get her into the crate in our car. We decked it out special. It was laden with enticing treats and pink oversized fleece blanket. I mean what lady doesn't like a bit of pampering? The back of the jeep was too high for her to manage but the treats were calling her name. We couldn't yet hoosh her up as she seemed tender in her belly and hip area. We built a "stairway" out of dog food boxes  and she ably clambered up them to claim her prize.

On our 8 hour journey  to the shelter we stopped twice to let her out to stretch her legs and make organic contributions to the surrounding countryside. Now I may get a little too graphic for sensitive souls here so I apologise in advance. She must have pooped about 5lbs in the space of 9 hours. She hadn't been walked at all in the pound and some dogs just will not, however desperate, poop where they sleep.No wonder she was tender she had been in the pound for 5 days, that is a lot of build up. Each time we took her out she was more relaxed and less edgy.

We arrived at the shelter in Niigata and they had a room prepared for her she was in great spirits and was fine with being approached by strangers, unlike a few short hours ago. We walked her around her new surroundings and then led her to her private room. The couple who were helping the vet have promised to come for her when they get all their own ducks in a row. We visited her the next day when we were loading trucks to go out again. She greeted us with a big toothy grin and a tail wagging so hard it became blurry!

One happy happy lady:-)

One human + One fourleggeder = Two Heroes (Part 1)

Today our group of volunteers had several tasks to attend to. We split up to get things accomplished more efficiently. Since people have a tendency to understand my broken Japanese just at the right time I was sent down to city hall with three other volunteers to meet a vet and a couple who had taken on the case of a remarkable soul, Maruko. We were ushered into a second floor city hall office. The door was opened and raised voices hit our ears. First off, let me preface this with Japanese people rarely, rarely RARELY argue or complain "loudly" in public. This situation looked like it was rapidly heading in the wrong direction. The three foreign faced volunteers walked in and the vet politely excused himself from the heated discussion, turned to introduce himself in perfectly enunciated English, greeted us individually with a deep bow and explained very calmly what was happening.

Maruko, a 14 year old medium sized terrier mix, had been trapped in the rubble of a house for 11 days with no food or water. She was miraculously pulled out alive, bruised, bewildered and in a bad mood. She was taken to the local pound where she let her displeasure at having had to wait so long to be found known. She mouthed and snapped at the over worked handlers who tried to get close. This meant
 she earned the label "agressive". By the time the town hall had located her owners in an evacuation center the city officials were feeding her but not walking her for fear of being really bitten.

Ku chan tied up under the shelter of the school's bike shed.

Her owners, having lost everything in the innundation, couldn't deal with a potentially aggressive dog in such a confined living space as the evacuation center. Dogs are not allowed inside and are chained up in the icy parking lot for owners to drop by when they can. The dogs get a lot of visitors during the day both young and old, owner and stranger. Human and canine destressing themselves with their interaction. A snapping dog is a liability. Maruko's people relinquished her future to city hall, a place where she
had made no friends at all and no one was on her side.

Maruko when we first met her

After this careful explanation Dr.Takahashi reengaged the bureaucrat. The young man, was refusing to let the vet see, examine or assess the dog. Today was Maruko's last day and the scheduled gassing was in the afternoon. The wheels of officialdom had been set in motion and as far as this entry level official was concerned this juggernaut could not be stopped. His logic was not making any sense to the vet or the couple who were willing to take Maruko to their home when they had turned their own situation right way up. He was obstinately not budging, asserting the power of the position he was transferring from in 1 month's time. Dr. Takahashi raised his hand in the air and waved to everyone in the room all the while stating in a much louder voice than before who he was, his profession and that he was being treated very irrationally and unfairly by the redfaced junior official. Like I said, making a public scene here is as uncommon as blue moons, and yet here was an overstretched, sleep deprived  individual battling against the bureacratic red tape for one of his long term patients. The fracas was intolerable for the head man in the room and he leapt to his feet to rein in the situation. Junior, Senior and vet huddled and in hushed tones spent 20 minutes hashing out a solution. Maruko could leave and the paperwork would take an hour. Vet and the supporting couple bowed repeatedly at the room at large and thanked the stressed officials effusively. Normality was restored, the city staff accepted their gestures of thanks graciously and the road bump was smoothed out. Now to actually go down and get this "cranky old lady".

destruction, destruction and more destruction

An entire traditional roof in blocking the road

Where to start? The light of day I suppose. The car park was full when we woke from our cramped sleeping quarters at the back of the Hiace. We had driven in after 1am and had had a brief yet powerful indication of what was to come. Driving through the areas by night meant the scene was only as large as the headlights and their periphery. While it somewhat softened the visual impact, the darkness and silence added a sense of foreboding. The only sounds were our wheels on the dirt tracks as they manouvered around obstacles that had no place being on the road. Yet there they were.

 People who heard the evacuation warnings and fled to higher ground with what ever they could fling into the car. In some cases that was pets in some cases that was clothes in most cases it was just themselves and family members present. Seeing the resultant devastation they fled from was nothing like I had ever seen before, ever! One of the group members is an American fire fighter who volunteered for the destitute animals of Katrina and the 2010 earthquake in Chile. He said neither were anything like what he was witnessing on the ground here. Walls of debris piled up either side of the road as high as three storey buildings. Houses just didn't collapse they turned inside out and upside down in the blender the tsunami unleashed. Cars were enmeshed in roofs, boats on top of apartment buildings and whole neighbourhoods just razed and transported further inland. Every so often you would see a teddy bear or a manga or a photograph within the mud and know that there were lives lived here, and now there was rubble.

The car navigation system said go straight

It was so ................ there isn't one word that I could use. It hasn't been created yet and I hope it won't be.I can only use a string of the most awful awful adjectives to describe the scenes.On the other hand the adjectives to describe the survivors are all so positive. It is impossible for any one person who lived in the areas not to have lost someone close. The very poignant feature of the 'Missing person walls' at the shelters was the lack of photos.People just didn't have them anymore.Whole towns literally lost all their worldly possessions in less than 20 minutes. People who worked out of town  but lost their houses in town were still finding ways to commute to work from the evacuation centers.I saw a firefighter and his team sifting through debris  out near the port and then later on the same man shuffled through the gates of the makeshift accommodation  and said "Ta daima" (I'm home)in whispered tones.