There may be many lost animals of Fukushima, but you can strike two off that list: daring civilians spotted two pooches on a Fukushima livestream, then slipped behind nuclear lines to rescue the “atomic dogs.” This, my friends, is heroism.
The pooch raiders, part of the Hachiko Coalition of Japanese animal welfare enthusiasts, infiltrated the evacuation dead zone (and the perimeter of the plant itself) in search of two dogs they caught on the plant’s live webcam, roaming without food, care or protection from constant radiation.
According to the Hachiko crew (itself named after a beloved Japanese dog, legendary in the annals of canine history), these dogs were not only a tragic sight, but posed a threat to humans – what happened if they got dosed up on radiation and then wandered back to civilisation? TEPCO and the Japanese government have been letting critters roam free this entire time, despite repeated calls for a thorough animal removal plan.
So they did it themselves. Donning hazmat suits, the volunteers drove to the plant, found the dogs, and sped out of there to a nearby veterinary hospital, where the two dogs were decontaminated and treated for their radiation exposure. The furry couple received two and three μSv of radiation respectively, which is low for humans, but for dogs – we’re not sure. We’ll keep track of the atomic duo for you, but for now, they appear to be happy, healthy and in (non-radioactive) hands.
This is probably the single happiest story to come out of Fukushima, so go ahead and soak it up. [via Hachiko Coalition]