☆First in Japan: a protective institution for suffering pets established in Oita in June.

May 16, 2016
☆First in Japan: a protective institution for suffering pets established in Oita in June.

From Nishinippon Shinbun, May 13, 2016
http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/national/article/244877

An institution for protecting disaster-victim pets, which can’t live with their owners, will be established in June in Kokonoe-machi, Oita.
Kyushu Animal Welfare Association (Fukuoka city) operates in cooperation with the Veterinary Medicine Association in Kyushu.
This institution will accept pets from all over Japan.
This is the first of it’s kind in Japan.
It was planned to open next Spring, but due to the occurrence of the Kumamoto earthquake, they will open earlier, in June.

It’s called the “Kyushu Saigaiji Dobutsu Kyuen Center” (Kyushu Disaster Animal Relief Center).
It is located at a place that was a sanitarium of Kyushu Electric Power Co. INC. in Yutsubo, Kokonoe-machi.
The administration building will undergo repairs, and facilities will be made for dogs and cats, including a dog run.
It is free of charge, except for vaccination costs.
Veterinarians and volunteers in Kyushu will operate it.
The association said that they already have inquiries concerning over 100 pets.
The Japan Veterinary Medicine Association planned it.
The Ministry of Environment set guidelines, as it was seen as rational to evacuate with pets after Great East Japan Earthquake.
However, after Kumamoto earthquake, there is no end to refugees staying in their cars rather than with so many other evacuees.