Summit In Japan Will Focus On Helping Animals Contaminated By Radiation

Summit in Japan Will Focus on Helping Animals Contaminated by RadiationSummit in Japan Will Focus on Helping Animals Contaminated by RadiationSummit in Japan Will Focus on Helping Animals Contaminated by RadiationThe International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will hold a summit May 2-3 in Japan to develop response procedures and protocols to monitor, evacuate and treat animals contaminated by radiation.The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will hold a summit May 2-3 in Japan to develop response procedures and protocols to monitor, evacuate and treat animals contaminated by radiation.newslinePosted: April 21, 2011, 3:30 p.m., EDT

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will hold a summit May 2-3 in Japan to develop response procedures and protocols to monitor, evacuate and treat animals contaminated by radiation.

Topics will include radiation exposure, animal physiology, animal behavior, animal rescue and evacuation techniques, animal decontamination, animal sheltering and husbandry, wildlife habitat and rehabilitation and human responder safety.

The summit is in response to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 and caused damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. After radiation was detected outside of the plant, the government of Japan declared a mandatory evacuation of residents within the area.

As such, a large number of animals, including livestock, horses and companion animals, were left behind, said Dick Green, disaster manager of IFAW.

IFAW noted that research in the United States shows that as many as 30 percent of evacuees will attempt to re-enter a disaster zone to rescue their pet.

"By removing those animals that can be safely decontaminated from the evacuation zone and reuniting them with their families, there will be a significant reduction in the number of people attempting to re-enter the danger zone—putting their own lives at risk," Green said.

While the recommendations are being developed, an immediate animal relief plan has been recommended to Japanese authorities, according to IFAW. This includes setting up feeding stations in the evacuation zones, providing decontamination training to veterinary teams, positioning transport equipment in strategic staging areas and readying animal shelters for the influx of evacuated animals.

The summit committee includes representatives from the Japanese Ministry of Environment, United States Department of Agriculture: APHIS Animal Care and Wildlife Services, United States Army Veterinary Corps, veterinary and toxicology professionals, academicians and IFAW.

<Home>8/28/2012 11:46 AM