Live Love Animals
The 2th International Conference on Animal Care in KOBE 2012
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Organizer/Chairman’s Message



Takemi NAGAMURA ,  President Japan Kennel Club,

The Japan Kennel Club (JKC) is an incorporated association that was founded for the purposes of improving the quality of dogs, establishing and expanding dog breeding procedures, and enhancing the spirit of animal welfare. In addition to being Japan’s largest organization of dog lovers, the JKC functions as the country’s primary registry body for purebred dog pedigrees and as an organizer of exhibitions and competitions, and as a member organization of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), it also focuses its energies on promoting international exchanges and cooperation through dogs. The FCI recognizes 342 breeds of dog, each of which has been given its own standard that can be used as a breeding guideline for the breed in question. Moreover, the JKC stages exhibitions and competitions throughout the nation. These events serve as opportunities to conduct dog breed evaluations based on these standards.

Recently, the standards governing some dog breeds have been drawing criticism as a form of animal abuse. The need for further verification of these standards is therefore now being considered. As an organization with many members who are professionals in the improvement and breeding of different dog breeds, we have an obligation to provide dog-lovers throughout the nation with healthy and high-quality dogs.

I believe the present conference is a very timely occasion for us to be holding a workshop on the theme of improved co-existence between people and dogs and better man to animal relationships.

As speakers, we have invited Professor Uchiyama, Professor Hayashi, Dr. Murata and Mr. Ishiyama each of whom is a leading authority in their respective field. I would like to conclude my message by voicing the sincere hope that many dog lovers throughout the nation will participate in this conference.　

Workshop Speaker Abstracts
The Partnership between People and Dogs in Japan
Mitsuaki  OHTA,  Azabu University

The relationship between human beings and wolves began more than 300 thousand years ago when Neanderthals were living on Earth. We already had a certain relationship with the wolf, ancestor of our modern-day dogs, even before the first early-modern humans, the Cro-Magnon, appeared. The animal we can define as “a dog” was produced about 15 thousand years ago and, since then, the dog has worked for humans, helping them hunt and guarding them from enemies. When we consider the path of dog evolution, it may be axiomatic that “a dog” should become a family member, as it has become in present times.

For the better future, on the other hand, humans would start to think about new partnership with dogs. For instant, the Act on Protection and Management of Animals, which was established in 1973, was revised twice, in 1999 and 2005. In 1973, under the law all animals were regarded as “things”, not “lives”. However, in 1999 the fundamental principle of the revised Act (renamed to the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals) was explicitly stated as follows: “Recognizing that animals are living beings, no person shall kill, injure, or inflict cruelty on animals unnecessarily, and when keeping animals, every person shall fully understand their habits and give them proper care so that people and animals can live together.” This Act could really be compared to those of Western countries. However, there are still many points that are inadequate.

In the United Kingdom almost every family with a new dog attend ‘Dog School’ to learn the proper way to look after their animal. In the Western countries, dogs have come to play an important role in supporting human health, both physical and mental, an example being ‘animal-assisted therapy’. In addition, most of the ‘civilized’ countries follow a rule that “separating a puppy from its mother is prohibited before 8 weeks following birth”. This set of conditions is very different to Japan. So, as a people, we must ask ourselves “Why is this so?”.

In this Workshop 9 we must take our first steps to improve the situation in Japan, and build a true partnership between humans and dogs.

Hidehiko Uchiyama, Assistant Professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture;
Board Director, Society for the Study of Human Animal Relations (HARs)

Since the 1970s, some very interesting research developed in the field of Animal-assisted Activities and Therapy (AAA/AAT) in western countries. For example, in 1980 Friedmann, et al. demonstrated that human patients suffering from heart disease survived longer (by one more year) if they had a dog companion compared to patients without dogs. This means that living with a dog reduces stress in people on a daily basis. In 1997 Hart recommended that elderly people keep pets in order to better develop their social contact, identity, and motivation for life. In 1990, Siegel reported distinct evidence that elderly people over 70 years old who keep a dog tend to make fewer visits to the hospital. These findings have led to the US National Institute of Health allowing medical doctors to prescribe pet-keeping as an alternative to drugs.

The effects of animals on human physical and mental health have been known since the 1950s and from the Olympic achievements of Liz Hartel from Denmark. Despite suffering from polio since 1943 she won a medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games in the dressage event. Ever since, the idea of rehabilitation through horse riding successfully made its way around the community of therapists. At the 12th Conference of IAHAIO held in Stockholm, July 2010, it was reported that about 17% of hospitals in Germany are using AAT as medical treatment and that more than 90% of medical staffs are convinced that AAT has useful effects. However, there has been an alarming difference in acceptance between western countries and Japan.

So why has AAT in Japan never developed? There are probably several reasons including a difference in national traits, the lack of opportunities for medical practitioners to witness the real effects of AAT, and absence of professional individuals that coordinate in both medical and animal fields. However, the most likely reason is that there has been no scientific evidence for the effects of animals on human health. So at this symposium I intend to discuss the mechanisms behind AAT.

The Animal Welfare Act and Dog Welfare
Yoshihiro HAYASHI, Veterinarian,
Professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture;
Chairperson, MAFF National Committee for Biodiversity Strategy

The Subcommittee to study the welfare and management of animals, set up under the Animal Welfare Working Group of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment’s Central Environmental Council, met 25 times between August 2010 and December 2011. The Subcommittee compiled a report summarizing the discussions held during the 17 month period to the Animal Welfare Working Group.

The passing of the Act on Animal Welfare and Management (Animal Welfare Act), as well as its two revisions, was initiated by lawmakers. Although it was once rumored that the third revision would be submitted by the Cabinet, it will likely be submitted as another lawmaker-initiated bill.

What has been different about this revision (compared to the previous ones) is that the Subcommittee discussions have drawn much attention from the public. More than 120,000 public comments were submitted regarding the interim summary from the first half of the discussions and more than 50,000 regarding the summary of the latter half. The significance of these figures, however, should be treated with some caution because those people who are supportive of the proposed revision are more likely to express an opinion than those who favor maintaining the status quo. The latter tend to show less interest in revision drafts.

The major focus of the discussions concerned the appropriate handling of animals by animal related businesses. The subcommittee recommended strengthening the regulations governing the display of animals late at night, mobile pet shops, and the selling of animals by auction. Regarding the age at which baby animals can be separated from their parents, the subcommittee could not reach an agreement and decided to submit three different viewpoints in their report (namely, at 45 day old, 7 weeks old, and 8 weeks old). Additional topics discussed appropriate animal feeding facilities, further animal handling business categories, and others. The summary of the discussions can be found on the website of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.

As the Chair of the Subcommittee, I am acutely aware that there is not enough scientific data that we can apply to all kinds of dogs. Like humans, dogs have great individuality and one standard approach cannot cover all kinds of dog. It will therefore be necessary to establish a certain standard based on, not only scientific data, but also on specific examples.

A Mind Vaccine
Kaori Murata  Veterinarian,Mominoki Animal Clinic, Kobe City

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on various kinds of mental illness. In today’s complex society, people are subject to a high incidence of adjustment disorders that may prevent them from fitting in comfortably at work or school. Meanwhile, the pet animals that live in human society are forced to conform to a world defined by a totally different sense of values than they would follow naturally in the wild. Indeed, completely natural behavior exhibited by pet animals is often found to be totally unacceptable in human society.

I have been counseling people about the problematic behavior of pets for many years, and during that time I have found that in a great many cases, dog owners tend to personalize their dogs and impose their own style of discipline. As such they often make problems worse after being swayed by inappropriate advice and incorrect information. Also, I have noticed that if there is a lack of socialization at the time when a dog is a young puppy then this can result in problems later on.

Puppies that grow up without the opportunity to receive sufficient training and that subsequently have to adjust to living in human society undergo a variety of stresses. In order for them to live happily in human society, they need to build up a relationship of mutual trust with their owners. They should also be made to master sociability during their puppy period, while they are still highly adaptable.

Compared with treating adult dogs that exhibit problematic behavior, preventing problematic behavior during the puppy period produces major results with much less effort. Also, the treatment of problematic behavior in adult dogs requires a lot of patience whereas, by contrast, training puppies is a pleasant task and the animals’ progress clearly perceivable on a daily basis. Puppies have very flexible minds, and they learn appropriate behavior very quickly.

I have coined the term “mind vaccine” to describe this kind of training in order to prevent problematic behavior and enable pets and their owners to live together pleasantly and happily. A dog that is healthy and happy both mentally and physically will lighten its owner’s heart and it will also gain the willing acceptance of the people surrounding it.

In the same way as a vaccine can prevent the development of an infectious disease, if dogs can be inoculated with a mind vaccine at a veterinary hospital, this will increase the number of happy owners and dogs and consequently decrease the number of unhappy dogs.

Learning About Other Cultures from Pets
Hisashi ISHIYAMA,
Vice President,Mars Japan Ltd.

I have been working in the pet food industry for 29 years. In the course of my work for a multinational company, I have visited more than 30 countries to attend conferences, etc. It may seem surprising to have to visit so many places but, as there are around 700 million pet dogs and cats around the world, and as our company is active worldwide, it is important to understand the situation for pets in different countries. In Japan of the 1980s, the pet food industry began to flourish and our company introduced products that had proven successful internationally for the new market. Nevertheless, we did face a number of cultural differences.

In spite of the fact that around the world there is a great variety of dog breeds, why is it that only a relatively few varieties are popular in Japan and other Asian countries? It seems that most of the dog breeds kept in Japan since ancient times are similar in appearance to the small Shiba. So I asked myself ‘how could this difference from the West have arisen’? To answer this question, I paid frequent visits to museums and art galleries around the world. Within just a few hours of looking at museum collections we can see a fascinating history of how human beings have changed over the course of several thousand years. This teaches us something about the lives people led in different periods. For instance, if you view English portraits of aristocratic families that were painted between the 17th century and the present era, you are almost certain to see one or more dogs at their feet. However, if you look at Japanese pictures that depict deer or boar hunting from the Kamakura Period, there are almost no examples that show the essential features of dogs.

I suggest this is due to a difference between Japan (and the Asian region) on the one hand, where dogs were not so necessary for agricultural life and Europe, on the other, where they were absolutely essential for activities such as hunting. I have come to think that, in Japan, where working dogs are less important, the expression “favorite dog” is more appropriate than “pet”. In the Japanese language, the number of adjectives, adverbs and verbs for expressing static or dynamic situations is extremely small. Of course, the English language, with its wider range of word origins, has a far larger vocabulary. But even so, it may be that the a word such as “hunting”, which conveys the situation vividly and requires further clarity only in terms of role-sharing, season and location, compares differently to a word like “agriculture”, which is not required to convey a dynamic situation or role-sharing. Through my work in the pet industry I have felt that this kind of cultural difference has led to the development of such linguistic differences.

I look forward to participating in the panel discussion by commenting on the different pet situations in various countries.

Yoshikawa, Yasuhiro
PhD,
Professor, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University,
Emeritus Professor, The University of Tokyo,
Member, Science Council of Japan

It was not until between 10 to 20 years after World War II, and the food crisis of those times, that the Japanese people were all able to enjoy a stable diet of three meals a day and adequate nutrition. Furthermore, there was a barrage of contagious diseases for nearly two to three decades after the war’s end, for example, typhoid, paratyphoid, shigellosis, tuberculosis, Japanese encephalitis, measles, and polio encephalomyelitis. Many infectious diseases surrounded us, lined up like goods on a supermarket counter. Relatively speaking, consideration of food poisoning risk was not high at the time. Food sanitation controls were very poor and a “safety myth” did not exist. Consumers relied on practical knowledge and experience to distinguish safe from dangerous ingredients, and took responsibility for their own safe-eating habits.
Half a century later we live in an age of plentiful food and “food safety” has become a major social theme. No risk in food can be permitted. Farmers as well as the people working in food processing, food distribution and retail selling are working hard towards and focused on zero risk. Government regulations have set standards at the highest possible hurdle and these higher levels of safety have given rise to the so-called “safety myth “. As such, people have been able to live under a false sense of security, without any notion of their need for responsibility. But, if the “safety myth” breaks down, trust is destroyed, panic sets in, reputations are damaged, and the backlash becomes a storm.
We must ask the question; if we do not have zero risk, how much risk remains? And is it an acceptable level of risk? Stakeholders (food producers, consumers, administrative risk managers, and risk assessor) must all discuss this responsibility seriously. Escaping into the safety zone of zero risk or assuming that somebody else should carry the blame will not resolve the problem. It is very difficult to decide on ‘acceptable’ safety levels for radioactive pollutions and BSE problems. This workshop hopes to at least help towards some answers to this issue.






An Approach to Ensuring Safety at Livestock Raising Sites
Junichi SAKAI, Counselor,
Yamagata Prefecture Federated Agricultural Mutual Aid Association (NOSAI Yamagata)

It is generally considered that pigs and cattle were domesticated from their wild ancestors around 8,000 BC and 6,000 BC, respectively. After that, for thousands of years, livestock were raised in a family-like environment. Modern times have seen the advent of intensive livestock management technology which has increased the number of animals that can be raised in a given area. Due to this, and coupled with scientific progress, including the introduction of various agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs, livestock productivity has increased significantly. At the same time however, these advances have given rise to new problems such the contamination of livestock products by drugs. As such, these advances have results that sometimes threaten human health.

In order to remedy the problems, many approaches are being pursued at livestock raising sites to ensure the safety of livestock products while also maintaining productivity. One approach has been the introduction of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems at farms. The intention behind such systems is to identify in advance any potential hazards that threaten the safety of livestock products and then try to control these hazards so as to prevent the occurrence of harm. This method is much more effective than the conventional methods of checking for, and attempting to eliminate, existing unsafe hazards. However, to introduce HACCP requires a high sense of hygiene among farm workers, a disciplined day-to-day checking and bookkeeping of a great many items. Likewise it requires specialized knowledge covering a wide variety of fields, as well as a large labor force.

Another approach that aims to reduce incidences of harm to consumers is the idea of trying to cut down veterinary drugs usage by adopting healthier livestock raising practices. In this case, veterinarians, who are animal disease experts, play a major role. To fulfill this role they must have a high level of general clinical ability, including broad knowledge and ample experience of livestock management and disease. In addition they need sufficient practical skill to allow them to give instructions that match the specific situation at individual farms, and they need communication skills that can improve farm worker motivation, etc.

The biggest single key to making this approach effective is to ensure that it is always carried out as a partnership between producers and consumers. Moreover, in order to build a safety assurance system and ensure its effective operation and support, it is essential to have the cooperation of livestock experts, processing and distribution industry insiders, and organizations concerned with social education.

The Safety of the Meat We Eat Everyday
Yukio Morita, Associate Professor,
Laboratory of Food Hygiene, College of Nutritional Science, Tokyo Kasei University

The three principles of preventing food poisoning are “don’t allow food poisoning bacteria to get onto food”, “don’t allow those bacteria to propagate”, and “kill those bacteria by heating”. When these principles are ignored, food poisoning incidents occur.

1. The Basics of Meat and Japanese Dietary Habits
Only healthy livestock can be eaten. Meat should be treated, processed and prepared (cooked) in ways that prevent it from being contaminated by food poisoning bacteria. However, Japanese dietary habits do include the consumption of raw animal products including raw eggs, sashimi, liver sashimi, chicken sashimi, and yukhoe (Korean style raw beef dishes).

2. The Current Situation Regarding the Meat Inspection System and Distributed Meat in Japan
In Japan, meat inspections are carried out on beef, pork, chicken, horsemeat and mutton. At meat treatment centers, food poisoning bacteria that live inside livestock intestines (such as Campylobacter, Salmonella, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), etc., are prevented from spreading onto the meat by “employing hygiene controls in line with HACCP system ideas”. Furthermore, because of an increased frequency of EHEC food poisoning incidents in 1996, a variety of measures have since been taken with the result that meat distributed today is much safer than in the past.

3. The Current Situation Regarding Food Poisoning      
Of the food poisoning cases recorded in 2010, the number one cause was Norovirus (13,904 patients), followed by Salmonella (2,476 patients), Campylobacter (2,092 patients) and Clostridium perfringens (formerly C. welchii) (1,151 patients). Food poisoning after eating meat is usually the result of Campylobacter, Salmonella or Clostridium perfringens (that reside in livestock intestines, or in the liver as is the case for Campylobacter) enter a person’s mouth in some way.

4. Prevention of Food Poisoning
“Don’t allow food poisoning bacteria to get onto food”: That is; prevent cross contamination of meat at every point of the process between the farm and the dining table. “Don’t allow food poisoning bacteria to propagate”: Achieve this by keeping meat at a temperature of less than 10℃ at all times. “Kill food poisoning bacteria by heating”: That is; cook the meat thoroughly. However, for raw meat, where hygiene control is only carried out in keeping with the first two principles (namely, preventing initial contamination plus prevention of propagation), more stringent controls are necessary.

Food Risk Assessment – Food Poisoning Causative Organisms, Radioactive Nuclides in Foods
Eiji SHINMOTO, Emergency Response Manager,
Food Safety Commission

People find it hard to go for even a day without eating food. But in addition to having a rich nutritional composition, the food we eat may also contain hazards that have a slight possibility of impacting negatively on our health. For this reason it is necessary to scientifically assess ‘risk’, namely, the level of probability that people will experience negative effects as a result of eating food and the degree of seriousness of these effects. Likewise we must employ appropriate management measures in order to keep these negative effects so minimal that they pose no problem to human health.

It is desirable that food safety administration be carried out under the basic recognition that safeguarding the health of the nation is a matter of paramount importance. Under these circumstances, the Food Safety Commission was established in the Cabinet Office in July 2003 as an organization charged with conducting neutral and fair risk assessment based on scientific knowledge. The Food Safety Commission carries out assessments concerning chemical substances that may be present in food and the influences that hazards, such as food poisoning causative organisms, may have on human health. We conduct these risk assessments in response to requests from management organizations such as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and also occasionally on our own judgment. We also work in risk communications by providing a website-based information service and holding opinion forums on risk assessment-related subjects for which there is a high level of public interest.

So far, we have conducted more than one thousand risk assessment cases in areas ranging from agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs to genetically modified foods, food additives, etc. The case examples that have attracted high levels of public interest include “Risk assessment concerning BSE” (2005) and “Food derived from livestock cloned from somatic cells” (2009). In August 2011, in association with the setting up of standards prompted by a food poisoning incident that claimed a number of lives, we produced an assessment on Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Salmonella in meats intended for raw consumption. Later in October the same year, relating to food regulations set up following the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station accident, we produced an assessment of the effect of radioactive nuclides in food on health. Risk management organizations are currently implementing and studying risk management measures based on these assessments.

CHAIR & ORGANISER MESSAGE




Taisei HOSOIDO,
Veterinarian,Occupational Director, Japan Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA),
President, VR ENGINE Inc.

A Wide-Ranging Response is Required in Animal Care

The social perception of veterinarians has differed substantially in different eras and in different regions. However, I think that the role of veterinarians remains extremely important for any era and in every region. Looking at the history of animal medical care in Japan, from the standpoint of making a social contribution, it is only in recent years that a high value has come to be placed on animal medical care.

When we look back at the changes in the roles that society has required of veterinarians, we see that in the first half of the 20th century, their biggest single role was that of warhorse management, etc. Then, from the confusion of the immediate postwar years to the period of recovery, from the standpoint of improving food production and food security (and especially of providing animal protein in the diet) veterinarians came to be perceived for the contribution they made to society in supporting the raising of livestock.

From the middle of the Showa Era (circa 1960) and into the present Heisei Era (1989~), with the progression of research and development in the field of chemical products (including medical products and clothing), and genetic research, the list of important tasks undertaken by veterinarians has come to include ‘participation in various researches and tasks directly connected to people’s lives and health’. These include the public health duties of preventing and controlling zoonotic infections and controlling food hygiene.  

Moreover, in recent years, veterinarians have been required to respond to matters related to wildlife, which has become a major theme within the broader issue of preserving the global environment, as well as to the changing position of family animals in Japan’s present aging society with its low birthrate.

However, when we consider whether or not the roles of veterinarians are clearly recognized by society we find that, due to a tendency to broadly define things related to all kinds of animal matters as “veterinary”, it is rather difficult to convey the specific roles played by veterinarians to the general public.

In this workshop, we will attempt to describe “veterinary medical care” as “animal medical care”. We will hear reports from veterinarians practicing in each field about how animal medical care should be conducted in the wildlife field (and its significance), the roles of veterinarians in the public health field and in industrial animal medical care, and family animal medical care under the current situation. From these reports we will consider possible responses for the future.

Animal Medical Care for Protecting Ecosystem Health
Shin-ichi Hayama／PhD, Veterinarian, Associate Professor of Wildlife Medicine,
Dept. of Veterinary Science, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University

Since the beginning of modernization, the relationship between people and wildlife has undergone a transformation and this in turn has been accompanied some major social problems. Examples of these problems include damage to agriculture, forestry and fisheries and physical injury to people caused by wild animals, the negative effects of invasive or introduced species on ecosystems, and the transmission of emerging infectious diseases by wild animals. Moreover, these problems are growing more serious year by year. On the other hand, many species of wild animals are threatened with extinction as a result of human activity, and both the extinction rates and the speed of those extinctions are unprecedented in the history of life on earth.

Collectively, I refer to these problems as “wildlife issues”, and I would like to point out that they constitute an important theme that we need to solve in the context of global environmental issues. Since these problems bear directly on people themselves, changes in human society are a prerequisite to achieving their solutions. But at the same time, they need to be addressed by professionals armed with a detailed knowledge of biology, including knowledge with respect to wild animals, and also with technology.  

The public has considerable expectations of animal medical care providers such as veterinarians who deal with all kinds of animals in a professional capacity, and these animal medical care providers are regarded as having a social obligation to help achieve solutions to various animal-related issues. In order to respond to social demands of this kind, the Japan Veterinary Medical Association established a Wildlife Management Committee in 2001, and this committee has made recommendations regarding both the roles veterinarians should play and the future direction of systemic reforms.

In my talk I would like to introduce some approaches towards solving wildlife issues based on the JVMA’s discussions and I would also like to talk about the significance of animal medical care providers being involved with wildlife issues from a variety of standpoints.




Animal Medical Care Requires Diverse Services – Veterinarians in Public Administration, Particularly in the Public Health Field
Mikio SUGIHARA,／Assistant Department Chief and Animal Health Section Chief, Health and Welfare Dept., Consumer Affairs Bureau, Public Health Division, Hyogo Prefectural Government

In public administration, veterinary work is carried out mainly in the agriculture and forestry field and the public health field. In my own field of public health, there are currently 134 veterinarians on the staff of Hyogo Prefectural Government.

I suppose there are a lot of people who are unable to visualize veterinarians working in public health, but the fact is they are indeed working in many capacities in this field.

The places where veterinarians in public administration work include public health centers, meat hygiene inspection centers, animal protection centers, and life science and health research centers.

At public health centers, veterinarians are mainly responsible for food hygiene and environmental health, etc. They provide on-the-spot training at food-related facilities and they also work on preventing occurrences and reoccurrences of food poisoning. In the environmental health field, they provide workplace training at business facilities such as beauty parlors and barbershops, hotels, etc., and they conduct training concerning hygiene measures. At meat hygiene inspection centers, in order to ensure the safety of meat and poultry for public distribution, veterinarians are engaged in inspection work as official inspectors. For animal protection centers, they carry out their work from the standpoint of protecting pet animals from harm and preventing animals from harming people, and their activities include providing on-the-spot training at pet shops. At life science and health research centers, they carry out wide-ranging inspections and research into viruses and bacteria, etc.

At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, in order to help support the activities of Fukushima Animal Rescue Headquarters, Hyogo Prefecture dispatched many of the veterinarian personnel employed at its animal protection centers to Fukushima Prefecture.
   
As the above examples illustrate, public health veterinarians in Hyogo are working in close contact with the public in diverse fields making use of their professional knowledge and experience in order to improve the safety and security of the prefecture’s citizens.




The Current Situation and Future of “Family Animal” Medical Care ~ A Response to Help Pets Move from Being Members of the Family to Members of Society ~
Taisei HOSOIDO,／Veterinarian,
Occupational Director, Japan Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA),
President, VR ENGINE Inc.

In recent years, pets have become widely recognized to be members of the family and members of society, and this trend has been accompanied by strong demands to provide pets with appropriate and high-quality “family animal” medical care.

In the background, I believe that the main reasons for this are that, in recent years, people have been living in a more mature economic environment. Daily life in Japanese society has been heading towards a structure based on lower birthrates and an aging population with the result that many people have begun to seek peace of mind through interacting with animals.

The kinds of mutual mental and physical involvement that occur as a result of this interaction are known as human-animal bonds (HAB). Since the 1970s, various researchers, centered on the Delta Society, have been scientifically investigating and studying these mutual effects and popularizing them among the general public as well as in academic circles. In Japan too, the concept of placing value on HAB has spread to many people across society, not only in the veterinary and animal medical care fields but also to those involved in human medical care, welfare and education, as well as to pet owners.

In recent years, with the recognition of pet owners and of society in general, the status of pets has been changing from that of ‘pet animals’ to – so called – ‘companion animals’, and now to ‘family animals’. In line with this development the demand has arisen for a more wide-ranging response to providing family animal medical care. In order to meet such diversified requests with an organized response, “nighttime emergency care systems” and “introductory medical care systems through cooperation between the three parties of pet owners, home doctors and secondary care facilities” are being established and developed throughout Japan centered on veterinarians who belong to the veterinary associations in each region.  

Also, in the future it will become more and more important for the veterinarians and veterinary nurses that provide medical care for family animals to play a role in supporting a convivial society for the coexistence of people and animals. This needs to be achieved through such things as popularizing the importance of pet owners carrying out proper training and teaching manners (so that the animals they raise can effortlessly co-exist with people and live happily as “members of society”), in addition to providing medical care, preventing diseases and detecting the presence of chronic diseases at an early stage through regular examinations.

The realization of a wonderful coexistence between people, animals and the natural world is a major proposition that will be required of future society. To begin with, pet owners and other interested parties must do their very best, and do so together, to ensure that the family animals living among us are recognized as “members of society” by as many people as possible.

Main Roles Required of Veterinarians Engaged in Farm Animal Practice
Akira Yokoo ／Assistant Manager,
Division for Planning, Research and Training, National Agricultural Insurance Association (NOSAI)

In this workshop we are going to talk about veterinary practice with respect to farm animals, which is something that requires a wide range of responses. At present, the main roles required of veterinarians engaged in farm animal practice are as shown in the following table. Since these are practicing veterinarians, naturally their work centers on the medical care of livestock, but because these veterinarians are also involved in various food production activities that come under the heading of ‘daily husbandry’ or ‘animal husbandry’, the roles they are required to play have been growing steadily larger over the past few years. 
In line with recent outbreaks of BSE and foot-and-mouth disease and with the transfer of pharmaceutical residues and pesticide residues to a positive list system, the role played by veterinarians who can guarantee the safety of livestock food products is becoming more and more important. This is because only the veterinarians engaged in farm animal practice who work at the farming site can make appropriate use of animal-use drugs, and the dispatch of safe products can only be realized if information about washout periods and drug-use prohibition periods can be appropriately provided to livestock owners or producers.

Table:  Main Roles Required of Veterinarians Engaged in Farm Animal Practice

Moreover, many infections that are common to people and animals are said to originate in farm animals, so the role of veterinarians in examining farm animals on a daily basis is important.
In addition, regarding the response when monitoring infectious diseases such as those designated as infectious by law (and requiring official reporting) and when reporting communicable diseases, etc., including foot-and-mouth disease and BSE, the first step in taking effective countermeasures is for the farm animal veterinarian who works on the frontline at the farming site to discover the infection and report it to the Livestock Hygiene Service Center.

The Current Situation Concerning the Handling of Animals
Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake
Nobuhiko ITO, Director, Kitasato Institute,
Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University

The reason why the Great East Japan Earthquake has produced a totally different situation from that of any previous major earthquake is that it has resulted in radioactive contamination across a wide area. This in turn has created three additional special problems for those engaged in animal rescue activities. Firstly, rescue workers have been exposed to radioactivity in some places where they were performing rescue activities; secondly, affected animals were exposed to both external and internal contamination by radioactive matter; and thirdly, rescue workers were not permitted access to the caution zone within a 20km radius of the damaged nuclear power plant.       

The fate of many animals left inside the caution zone when their owners disappeared was not death caused by radiation but pain and death from starvation. But even in these circumstances, some of the animals whose owners deliberately released them from their cages or chains survived. In the case of dogs, cats, etc., sheltering activities have been continued with reference to the guideline document, “Methods of coping with radioactive contamination of animals’ bodies – urgent tentative measures”. This was introduced on the website of the Japan Veterinary Medical Association. However, with regard to farm animals, the chief of the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters ordered Fukushima Prefecture to euthanize livestock within the caution zone. Nevertheless, the current situation is that more than 1,000 runaway cattle and many feral pigs still survive within the caution zone. Animals within the zone have internal radioactive contamination and have become difficult to control so it is becoming harder to capture them safely.

In the face of government policy, those farming households that agreed to euthanize their cattle now feel that their animals were destroyed for no purpose. Moreover, there have been requests both from within Japan and from overseas to rescue animals from the caution zone or to use them for research that can benefit people. In response, the Chairman of the Japan Veterinary Medical Association did change his request to the affected parties, such that research using cattle contaminated by radioactive materials in the caution zone began in November. A research project has also started in an effort to evaluate the radioactive contamination of the forests that occupy 70% of the land area in Fukushima Prefecture. This is being done by surveying the internal radioactive contamination of wild animals living in the forests. These examples demonstrate that research into the effects of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident on wildlife has just begun.

Animal Rescue Operations for Small Animals
Jun KAWAMATA
Veterinarian, Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Animal Rescue Task Force,
Chiba Small Animal Clinic, Fukushima City

The Great East Japan Earthquake was one of the most powerful earthquakes to have occurred anywhere in the world in modern times. The earthquake and the accompanying tsunami caused enormous damage in Fukushima Prefecture just as it did in the nearby prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate. But additionally, in Fukushima, the tsunami triggered a major nuclear disaster which has greatly compounded the impact of the original natural disaster.

According to a report from Fukushima Prefecture, prior to the disaster, approximately 10,000 dogs and cats were living within the so-called “caution zone”. It is estimated that approximately 60 to 70% of these animals died either in the tsunami or else from subsequent starvation, weakness, etc. At present, around 400 to 500 dogs and cats are estimated to be living in the caution zone, and the authorities are actively attempting to rescue these animals. However, in the current situation, the work of protecting these animals is not going smoothly because they have become more cautious of people and because the presence of radioactivity makes it difficult to carry out rescue activities.

Fukushima Animal Rescue Headquarters was set up a month after the disaster struck by five organizations as members – namely Fukushima Prefectural Government, Fukushima Veterinary Medical Association, the governments of the two core cities of Koriyama and Iwaki, and the animal welfare volunteer association Fukushima-ken Dobutsu Aigo Volunteer Kai, with Fukushima Prefecture also playing an overall management role. But at that time, when the national and prefectural governments and the veterinary association were operating in a state of extreme confusion, and in a situation in which we Fukushima residents were also forced to live precariously day to day, it was difficult for the organizations to carry out animal rescue activities monolithically.

The Animal Rescue Headquarters has dealt with the situation by installing shelters at two locations in Fukushima Prefecture and its operations are financed from public donations provided by the Emergency Animal Rescue Headquarters and by support from people all over Japan. But since the scale of the disaster was unprecedented, the amount of money required to keep the work going and manage the operation is huge, with the result that funds are in short supply. In addition, the Headquarters also suffers from a chronic shortage of volunteers. In the current situation, in which the closure of the shelters is nowhere in sight, insufficient funds and manpower are the major problems.

Through this massive disaster I have become acutely aware that if prefectural governments and veterinary associations carry out animal rescue activities by themselves, they are bound to come up against all kinds of problems and limitations. To work effectively, it is necessary to install a large-scale organized authority in which the government and the people are united.

For the future, in order to prepare in advance for major disasters, it will be essential to build up a more broadly based animal support system and also to produce a manual that can serve as a guide to operating such a system. 

Considering Responses to Radioactive Material Contamination
Toshihiro SATO,
Veterinarian, Medical Care Division Head,
Production Department, Fukushima Prefecture Dairy Farming Association





In Fukushima Prefecture, only a few livestock farms sustained direct damage from the recent earthquake. However, due to the severing of lifelines, damage to dairy factories and other facilities, interruptions in distribution due to fuel shortages and other reasons, it took more than two weeks before production activities returned to normal. Moreover, the dairy industry’s problems were further compounded when the shipment of raw milk was halted on account of the nuclear power accident.

While the radioactive contamination situation was invisible to the eye, a nuclear power accident evacuation order was issued for people in the Hama district within a 20km radius of the plant, while those living between 20 and 30km of the plant were ordered to remain indoors. These orders remained in force for over a month. During that time, cattle owners attempted to evacuate their animals while remaining on their farms or commuting to and from their evacuation sites. The Dairy Farming Association also tried to remove some livestock to secure locations in consultation with the administration. However, from April 22, when the area within the 20km radius was designated as a caution zone, conditions were such that it became virtually impossible to help the livestock and they had to be left unattended. In the beginning, slaughtering the animals and disposing of the carcasses was considered, but there was nowhere suitable either as a working environment or as a disposal site for the carcasses as industrial waste, so most of the animals died of starvation. I heard that, by the middle of May, the situation meant that there were heaps of carcasses. Such images, taken by people returning to their homes temporarily, and by volunteers, were brought to the world’s attention by the mass media. Even so, restoration work made little progress. I then heard that the situation continued beyond the end of September and it created a sense of doom and gloom in the minds of livestock owners and people involved in stockbreeding.

On the other hand, with other livestock such as cattle and pigs having been let loose and turning feral in the disaster area, new problems are expected to emerge in the future. By this I mean the broadening of the contaminated area due to uncontrolled breeding or interbreeding with wild animals, etc.

Secondly, we have witnessed not only the distribution of radioactive material contamination in the local living environment but also the topographic and biological concentration of radioactive materials as time goes on. Many issues remain to be tackled in order to maintain local farming, and we also need to take a multifaceted approach that includes product monitoring, production cycle verification, checking systems, risk communication, and decontamination technology development, etc.

Hiroyuki FUJITA
(Editorial Director, Nikkei National Geographic Inc. )

I am sure you know the American magazine, “National Geographic”. It was first published in 1888 and has now been translated into 33 languages including Japanese with 40 million monthly readers. The 2011 December issue carried a report about the people of Fukushima who had been evacuated due to the nuclear accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake. As well as the main article, the background stories were also very intriguing.

There was a picture of some people barbecuing with a ‘shichirin’ (earthenware brazier) on the street of Okumacho, a city designated as a hazard area. “Having a barbecue in hazard suits?” I thought to myself, “It can’t be true!” Then I took a closer look at the picture and noticed some dogs lured by the smell of the grilled meat around the shichirin. In fact, it was a picture of people who were part of a rescue operation for pets left behind after their owners had been evacuated. To take such a picture, the photographer must have been greatly moved by his encounter with Japanese people trying to save animals without regard for their own safety.

The National Geographic is known for its powerful pictures and clear commentary about wild animals collected from all over the world. Recently however the magazine has included more and more articles that look at pet animals. So it is now a media presenting new human-animal relationships from various viewpoints (such as the human-pet animal relationship) and the validation of cross-fertilization from a genetic point of view.

The underlying idea is changing away from “conservation” towards “coexistence.” To support this idea what we can do is face the reality of humans and animals. The first step is, for a while, to put aside our concept of always putting our highest priorities on ‘efficiency’ – a dominating concept in Japanese society – and listen to the stories of doctors fighting on the front lines to learn about the reality. Then we can give deeper consideration to the issues as they relate to us directly.

Animal Rescue Activities in Ishinomaki Following the Great East Japan Earthquake
Toshinori ABE,  Director, Abe Animal Hospital, Ishinomaki City

On March 11, when an unprecedentedly large earthquake struck Miyagi Prefecture, the Ishinomaki area was jolted by a quake measuring over 6 on the Japanese scale, which was followed 30 minutes later by the arrival of a huge tsunami. As a result, all the lifelines were cut off and the area was completely devastated. Around 73% of the urban area was inundated by the tsunami and almost all of the private small-animal veterinary clinics were flooded. In the two cities and one town that make up the area, the disaster left 4,796 people confirmed dead and a further 1,160 people missing. Moreover, in proportion to the human losses, many animals also died or suffered due to the disaster. Because most of the industry and housing in Ishinomaki is located in the coastal areas, many companies, factories and homes were completely destroyed and many people lost their jobs, homes and families.

After the earthquake struck, each veterinary clinic evacuated its hospitalized animals and then the veterinarians attempted to rescue animals that had taken refuge in the neighborhood evacuation centers. At many evacuation centers, families and pet animals were placed together in the same large rooms (many of these were classrooms). Volunteer veterinarians made visits to these evacuation centers where they carried out consultations and administered free treatment.

Miyagi Veterinary Association established the Ishinomaki Animal Rescue Center based on an agreement signed with the Prefectural and City Governments. The Center was operated with the cooperation of Sendai Veterinary Medical Association, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, and volunteers from all over Japan. In the middle of September, when all the temporary housing in Ishinomaki was completed, the animals kept at the Center were sent back to their original owners or else to foster families, and the Animal Rescue Center was closed down on October 6.

Also, from May 15, a program of activities was started up under the ANN Project to help animals living in temporary housing. Conducted by JAHA training instructors, these activities aim to stem problematic behavior among animals living in temporary housing, such as barking, biting, etc., and towards building an animal network.     

 




From the Site of the Great East Japan Earthquake, In Order to Survive Together with Animals…
Yoko ABE, Veterinarian, Abe Animal Hospital, Ishinomaki City

The Great East Japan Earthquake was an unprecedented disaster. Among owners who live together with their pet animals, and who regard them as beloved family members, there must be many who know first-hand how hard it is to survive together with a pet when society automatically places top priority on saving human life in times of disaster.

This time the huge earthquake that initially struck was quickly followed by a devastating tsunami. Facing the imminent danger many pet owners were forced to flee their homes with nothing but their pets and the clothes they were wearing. Then they had to take shelter at an evacuation center. Under the circumstances, some pet owners actually said that they would rather have been engulfed by the tsunami together with their pets.

Fortunately, in Ishinomaki City, almost all of the evacuation centers allowed people to evacuate with their pets accompanying. For many pet owners who had lost their normal daily lives in an instant, being together with their pets was one of the few things they still had left. Within the evacuation centers, the animals attracted the attention of the children and their smiles. Furthermore, many other people were comforted by the warmth and gentleness of having pets around, as well as the owners themselves. All in all, the presence of these pets has been a major source of encouragement for the embattled community and part of the emotional support needed in the reconstruction efforts.

Later, when the city authorities announced there would be nothing to prevent the keeping of pets in temporary housing, many pet owners moved into such accommodation together with their animals.

Observing the drastic change in circumstances for people who had to first flee the disaster, then had to join an evacuation center before moving into temporary housing, I strongly sensed the importance of owners becoming aware that they should not only work to raise their pet as a member of the family but also to be a member of society. Owners need to have a good understanding of their pets’ habits and behavior, and equip these animals with an understanding of the rules and manners needed for living as part of the greater human society so that they can be loved by everybody. Owners should develop bonds of absolute trust with their pets so that the pet will feel they can live at ease and comfortably, safely and securely, wherever they are with their owners. So, for better preparation towards potential disasters, I sincerely hope that many more pet owners will come to realize the need for animal training and socializing education. This can be extremely useful to survival efforts.

Situation Report and Challenges relating to Animals in the Care of Kobe City
Mari YUKI, Chief Administrator, Kobe Animal Control Center

Local governments throughout Japan that undertake animal protection and control administration provide a public service by taking in cats and dogs whose owners are no longer able to keep them or whose owners are unknown. The people who work in this field regularly have to see dogs or cats being parted from their owners or have to handle dogs and cats that have become separated from their owners. From repeatedly experiencing these unfortunate situations every day they know that we cannot eliminate such problems by simply blaming the owners. In recent years, the biggest reasons why owners are no longer able to keep their pets are; sickness, hospitalization or the death of the owner. The next most common reasons are; moving home, and then the aging and sickness of an animal such that the owner finds it too hard to take care of. In recent years, there has been a big increase in the instances of pets and owners becoming separated for these reasons. In Kobe, the percentage of separated dogs and cats that are subsequently reunited safely with their owners is only 23% for adult dogs and just 0.8% for adult cats. In my daily work, I feel it is impossible to improve this situation solely by relying on owners to act responsibly and on the local government to adopt the animals. In order to come up with a better solution for both animals and people, it is necessary to establish a new social system.

Kobe City carries out animal transfer operations in collaboration with the volunteer group Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS) CC Kuro. Although there are a number of problems the two parties are able to work effectively by cooperating with each other. In Japan, where animal welfare resources are poor, we need a system in which the government, public interest groups, corporations, schools and private citizens can act together while utilizing their respective advantages from the standpoint, not only of saving animals, but also from the wider perspective of what should be done in order for animals and people to live happily together. The reality of the situation is tough and the road to a solution is far from easy which is why, at this workshop, it is all the more important to share ideas that would make a positive difference if they can be realized. I would like us to think together about how we can build up a “system” through which owners can discharge their responsibilities to their pets as well as a “system” for carrying out those things that individuals can’t do alone as a matter of social responsibility.

Cooperative program between Chiyoda ward and volunteers for human and stray cat live together
Akiko Katori   Writer and Journalist, Chiyoda Nyantonaru-kai Volunteer Group, Tokyo.








  Cats are companion animals, not wild animals, and as such we should be responsible for them throughout their whole lives. However, there is a large population of cats now living outdoors without owners, something that is considered a serious social problem. Being a community problem local administration officials and citizens must tackle it by working cooperatively. Since 2000, Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward has been conducting a subsidized TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) program. Initially, the ward recruited volunteers from local inhabitants. Those who applied as volunteers formed a bond with one another which gave rise to the ‘Chiyoda Nyantonaru-kai’ (volunteer group) being set up. Now, workers from Chiyoda Ward together with Nyantonaru-kai and other local volunteers cooperate closely to trap the stray cats, have them neutered and returned. The maximum subsidy is 25,000 Yen for a female and 17,000 Yen for a male. Anybody can receive the subsidy from Chiyoda Ward for veterinarian costs on condition that he/she has applied to the ward office. In this way, about 2,000 stray cats have been neutered or castrated through the subsidies scheme and the TNR program has enjoyed very successful results over the past 12 years. There has been a marked decrease in complaints and problems related to stray cats and, nowadays, no cat has to be killed in Chiyoda Ward. The Nyantonaru-kai Group shelters any kittens and looks for foster families. If an injured cat is found outdoors the group’s volunteers take the cat to a veterinarian where medical treatment costs will be paid out of donation funds.

CHAIR & ORGANISER MESSAGE and Presentation ABSTRACT




Chizuko YAMAGUCHI
Veterinary Inspector
Japan Animal Welfare Society (JAWS)

In 2011, a severe earthquake shook the whole of eastern Japan, resulting in devastation on a scale incomparable to that of any natural disaster that has previously occurred in the country’s history. In addition to causing extensive damage across a wide area, the impact of four distinct kinds of disaster, namely earthquake, tsunami, fire and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, overlapped in many places. This has made the prolongation of the disaster aftermath inevitable. Animals living with people were unable to avoid this huge earthquake and, while some were carried away by the tsunami, even those that survived had to endure several types of hardship. Some became separated from their owners, others remained constrained and unable to move, and some escaped together with their owners but as part of an evacuation.

In the face of extreme destruction and with over 20,000 people dead or missing, the human and animal survivors who experienced the earthquake and the tsunami have been overwhelmed by fears and worries. Both animals and people needed to snuggle up to their family members. In so doing, the animals provided many people with much-needed emotional support. Considering the importance of human-animal bonds, and based on the principles of animal welfare, it is necessary for cities, towns and villages across the nation to expand disaster countermeasures to cover all animals under the government’s leadership. Coincidentally, 2012 is the year in which the National Diet is scheduled to deliberate the plan to revise the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals. It is my sincere hope that this revision will incorporate ‘animal rescue in times of disaster’ within national law.

During Workshop III, Chizuko Yamaguchi of the Japan Animal Welfare Society will first report on small animal rescue activities in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and about the various problems faced by the rescuers during their activities. Next, Kazutoshi Arai, the Vice-Chair of the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums, will talk about the kinds of response that can be made to aid damaged zoos and aquariums, and about disaster prevention countermeasures. Then, Naoya Kawakami, who became a central figure in the administration that carried out animal rescue after the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake, will talk about the role of administration in times of disaster. After these talks, we will discuss how animal rescue should be better achieved during future emergencies based on experiences gained until now. We will also discuss about private-public cooperative countermeasures and the involvement of organizations at both national and local (city, town and village) government levels.

The Response by JAZA to Assist Zoos and Aquariums Impacted by the Great East Japan Earthquake
Kazutoshi ARAI,
Vice Chair, Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and Director of Kamogawa Sea World

The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) was established in 1939 with the aim of promoting various activities and cooperative efforts between zoos and aquariums around Japan. In so doing, JAZA aims to contribute towards the enhancement of scientific technologies and culture developments. Currently, the JAZA membership consists of 153 institutions (87 zoos and 66 aquariums) across the country.

The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, 2011, affected thirteen of JAZA’s member institutions. Damage from the earthquake itself was not so great but major damage did occur due to water shortages, as caused by supply disruptions, and due to a lack of animal feed, caused by distribution interruptions. Furthermore, some aquariums did suffer complete power system failures and rearing water supply system failures due to inundation by tsunami. These failures resulted in the death of many fish and animals.

On the day of the earthquake JAZA immediately began to collect information about the extent of the damage and assess support needs, and we launched initial support measures such as transporting feed and providing emergency evacuation of animals.

We transported feed to 6 institutions ten times between March 18th and April 4th. Feed donated by other institutions, such as solid food, meat, fish, vegetables and fruits, was first collected from designated institutions and then land transported to the affected institutions using trucks designated as emergency vehicles, as well as by air and water. Individuals from many institutions and cooperating companies participated in this effort.

Five emergency evacuations of affected animals were carried out between March 16th and April 1st. We received a permit from the Ministry of the Environment to transport rare and internationally endangered species. Seven institutions housed 266 animals from 37 species including Steller sea lions, walruses, spotted seals, tufted puffins, giant salamanders, and white sturgeons. Among these was a pregnant spotted seal, which safely gave birth on April 7th at the institution to which it had been evacuated. The affected institutions began their restoration efforts, supported by JAZA member institutions and other related organizations, and all of them were able to resume their activities by July 15th.

We also solicited donations through our website and Facebook while our individual member institutions conducted their own fund drives. As a result, a total of 56,930,483 yen (35,470,318 yen from 1,119 donors in Japan and 21,460,165 yen from 35 donors abroad) was raised as of December 28th.

In order to provide appropriate support, we held a ‘Meeting of Affected Zoos and Aquariums’ twice during April within the affected prefectures to assess the degree of damage, support needed and to exchange information. We also set up a Donation Distribution Committee and discussed the principles and the details for distributing donations. By the end of July, the distribution method was finalized and the first donation presentations were made on August 8 and 9, with a second series being made between December 20 and December 26. The details were reported to the directors of all JAZA member institutions and announced via our website and on Facebook.

We also received tremendous support from overseas organizations. JAZA Chairman Shigeyuki Yamamoto expressed our gratitude for this when he presented the details about our earthquake support activities, with a status report on the affected institutions, at the 66th Annual Conference of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) on October 4th, 2011 in Prague.

I wish to use this abstract to also express my sincere gratitude for all the support and cooperation received from so many people in helping us respond to the earthquake.

Animal Rescue Activities after the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake
Naoya, KAWAKAMI, Director,
Niigata Prefecture Shibata Meat Inspection Center

I would like to express my deepest sympathies to those who have suffered from the Great East Japan Earthquake and my heartfelt condolences to the victims of the tragedy. In Niigata too, in 2004 we suffered from the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake which inflicted an unprecedented disaster. In Yamakoshi Village (current Nagaoka City), many houses were destroyed and the entire village completely cut off due to severed roads. All the villagers had to be evacuated to Nagaoka City. Many of them were not able to take their pets with them and those that did manage to escape with their animal had to live apart from them because pets were not allowed in the shelters. But, as a result, there was subsequent action to protect the bond between pets and their owners; the Niigata Prefectural Government sent officials by helicopter to Yamakoshi Village to rescue left-behind animals; the Veterinarian Association then provided medical care and shelter to affected animals; and the Niigata Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Niigata SPCA) offered help to those wanting to live with their pets.

These activities were conducted through the Chuetsu Earthquake Animal Rescue Headquarters which was established with the support of the Ministry of Environment and the Headquarters for the Relief of Animals in Emergencies.
Based on the experience gained from the above activities, I authored a section about protection measures for pet animals as part of the Niigata Prefecture Local Disaster Prevention Plan, which was drawn up after the earthquake. The plan stipulates the role of pet owners, the prefectural government, the veterinary medical association, Niigata SPCA, municipal governments, and Animal Rescue Headquarters. Thanks to this, we were able to immediately launch animal rescue activities when the Chuetsu-oki Earthquake occurred in 2007.