BOSTON, MASS. – The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) today committed $150,000 to assist Japan’s Animal Disaster Response Team (ADRT) – a group of local animal groups, including WSPA’s local member society, the Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) – in providing relief to the thousands of animals affected by the recent disasters.

After arriving in Japan on Mar. 15, WSPA’s disaster response team conducted an initial assessment to determine where assistance was needed and which local groups were best placed to deliver this support. At the time, WPSA’s assessment revealed that approximately 350,000 people were staying in evacuation centers and up to 10% had brought animals with them – meaning that more than 30,000 dogs and cats were in need of shelter.
 
“Many Japanese families include well-loved pets and, in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, people made every attempt to protect their animals,” says Lindsay Fyffe, Disaster Response Manager at WSPA. “Now, Japanese authorities are challenged with providing temporary housing for both evacuees and their pets. Our disaster relief effort is committed to helping ARDT alleviate this problem, and provide both shelter and care to the thousands of animals – and their families – who are in need.”

WSPA’s efforts will focus on setting up 30 temporary shelters situated near existing human evacuation centers during the next one to three months. The shelters will provide tents, feeding bowls, pet food, veterinary services and essential other equipment, but their main purpose is to enable owners to continue to walk, clean, feed and care for their animals.

WSPA’s disaster response team will also support the ADRT and local veterinarians as they continue to deliver emergency treatment and medicines to animals affected by the disaster.

The situation in Fukushima Prefecture, which is affected by nuclear radiation and remains subject to a 30km evacuation zone, remains unclear. While WSPA is concerned about the unknown number of cattle and poultry left behind in the zone due to the speed of evacuation, radiation levels are still too high to for rescue workers and animal groups to access the area.

For more updates on WSPA’s work in Japan, please visit http://www.animalsindisasters.typepad.com/.

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