Elizabeth Oliver san of "Animal Refuge Kansai" was featured on The Telegraph, as well as Mr. Matsumura for the "Japan tsunami anniversary" special.
(Article of Mr. Matsumura)
http://ameblo.jp/momokohime7/entry-11186750822.html
★Animal Refuge Kansai website (English)
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Japan tsunami anniversary: British woman fights to save Fukushima animals
A British woman who runs an animal rescue charity in Japan has condemned the government's failure to care for domestic pets and farm livestock in the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as "absolutely appalling".
Elizabeth Oliver, who has lived in Japan since 1968 and founded the Osaka-based Animal Refuge Kansai in 1990, has taken in more than 200 dogs, at least 25 cats, a marmot and a parrot that were abandoned in the no-go zone by their owners after the reactors at the plant exploded last March.
But little could be done for the thousands of dairy cattle that were left to die in their stalls at farms across the prefecture.
"The whole situation for pets and farm animals after the disaster has been a shambles, with many dying of dehydration or starvation, while there is also cannibalism," said Oliver, 70. "The government has done nothing for them.
"There were originally 5,900 registered dogs in the area, which means triple that number since most owners don't register them," she said. "This is a second disaster in the making."
The domestic pets that have survived the harsh winter have formed packs and started breeding.
"This is going to be a big problem for the government as they have gone feral and, as it will take 40 years to clean the zone, according to the government, we're going to have packs of feral animals roaming around in there until then," she said.
All the dogs that ARK has been able to rescue are suffering from heartworm, none are neutered or microchipped and "the majority have never seen a brush in their lives," she said.
In the first six months after March 11, the ARK veterinarian single-handedly neutered 638 animals, many on-site in the affected areas.
After the government made it illegal to enter the exclusion zone around the nuclear plant, Oliver and her ARK colleagues have focused their efforts on rescuing animals from hard-pressed government facilities across the region.
"Lots of organisations went in there immediately afterwards and brought pets out, but they local authorities lacked funds so the animals were warehoused," she said.
"They're pretty awful places for them to end up," she said. "Is it better to rescue a dog from the zone and then put it in a small cage? Is that much of a life for them? I think warehousing animals is cruel."
In late January, the government told 195 pet owners that they would be permitted to go into the evacuation zone to collect their pets, although none were found during the few hours they were allowed to visit their homes.
Even if they had found their pets, it is possible they would not have been able to catch them, Oliver believes.
"Many dogs and cats left behind are very wary and nervous now, making them difficult to catch," she said. "And their progeny will be feral since they will never have had human contact."
And the few evacuees who were reunited with their pets in the early days of the crisis faced new problems as many temporary accommodation units would not permit them to keep animals.
For farm livestock, Oliver says that beef cattle have apparently been able to forage and seem to be faring well, although dairy herds that required constant care will have been "wiped out."
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先日イギリスの「ザ・テレグラフ」が、震災から一年の特集の中で、富岡町の松村直登さんの動画をアップしましたが、同じ特集でアニマルレフュージ関西のエリザベス・オリバーさんが取り上げられました。
本文の翻訳です。
（松村さんの動画に関する記事はこちら）
http://ameblo.jp/momokohime7/entry-11186750822.html
★アニマルレフュージ関西サイト
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福島の動物救済のため闘い続ける英国人、エリザベス・オリバーさん
日本で動物保護団体を運営する英国人女性、エリザベス・オリバーさんは、福島第一原発の警戒区域のペットや家畜に対する日本政府の対応を、「あまりにもひどい」と非難する。
「震災後、脱水や飢餓、共食いなどで死んで行くペットと家畜の状況は、あまにりも悲惨だ。しかし政府は一切救済しようとしていない」。
「区域には、 5,900頭の犬が登録されていたが、ほとんどの飼い主は登録していなかったため実数はその３倍だろう」とオリバーさんは言う。「これが二次災害につながっている」。厳しい冬を生き延びた動物達は群れを作り、繁殖を始めている。
「これは大きな問題になる。政府によれば区域を除染するのに４０年かかるということだから、それまでの間、区域には野生化した動物たちの群れが放浪することになる」。
アークが保護した全ての犬から糸条虫が見つかり、不妊去勢手術やマイクロチップを施されたものはおらず、大半がブラシをかけられるのも初めてのようだった。
震災発生後半年間、アークの獣医師一人が被災地で638頭の不妊去勢手術を行った。
警戒区域が設定された後、オリバーさんは仲間と共に資金難の行政施設からのペットの保護に重点を置いて活動してきた。
「多くの組織が区域に入り保護活動を行ったが、彼らは資金に余裕がなく、保護された動物達は狭いシェルターに押し込められた。動物達が最終的にこのような場所に行き着くのはとてもかわいそう。区域から保護して狭いケージに閉じ込め、そこで彼らが人生の大半を過ごすことが、果たして良いことなのだろうか？このような場所に収容するのは、残酷だと私は思う」。
１月下旬、政府は195人の飼い主に、一時帰宅の際のペットの持ち出しを許可したが、帰宅に許された時間はわずかで、一匹も発見できなかった。
「たとえ見つけたとしても、保護することは難しかったと思う」とオリバーさんは言う。
「残された犬・猫は今、とても怯えて警戒心が強くなっているため、捕獲するのは容易ではない。さらにその子犬・子猫は人間を知らないため、野生化してしまうだろう」。
震災直後にペットと再会することのできた少数の被災者は今、新たな問題に直面している。
多くの仮設住宅で、ペットの飼育が許可されていないからだ。
家畜についてオリバーさんは、「肉牛は食糧を探しなんとか命を繋いでいるようだが、日々の世話を必要とする乳牛の群れは、このままでは全滅してしまうかもしれない」と言う。
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