Stories like this one remind me of the absolute loyalty and true friendship one can find from an animal. My friend, Jed, forwarded this to me and it brought me to to tears. Since the men commenting on what they’re seeing are speaking Japanese, I obviously don’t know exactly what they’re saying but one doesn’t need a translator to see the protective nature and love shared between this dog and his injured friend.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3TM9GL2iLI
The dog brings the videographers directly to the sick animal and then protects his sick friend with his paw when he deems their approach a little too aggressive. I was able to get the translation from the video and have posted it below, courtesy of Toshiyuki Kitamura:
“We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty. He has a collar. He must be someone’s pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid. Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead. Where? Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright. The dog is protecting him. Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay. I can’t watch this. This is a very difficult to watch. Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive. Yes! Yes! He is alive. He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon. Oh good. He’s getting up. It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It’s just amazing that they survived through this all.”
Rescue workers pull a small dog from the rubble in Japan - Courtesy of AP
For some your animal is all you may have.
Images like theses make us yearn for a happy ending.
We want to help in any way we can be it in-kind donations, money or volunteering our time. But unfortunately sometimes people can take advantage of videos like these that pull at our heart strings. We want to make sure that any money given towards animal rescue post-earthquake/tsunami is actually used for the relief efforts. In the case of this video we are still not sure what has happened to the two dogs or all the money collected by the “rescuer” Kenn Sakurai via his facebook page. We do know that he continues to delete facebook posts that are not to his liking and has indicated that he will return all donations in an interview with Global Animal.
We DO KNOW that there are thousands of animals stuck in the tsunami zone that are in desperate need of help. These animals are sick and displaced and there ARE reputable organizations that can provide them the care that they need. Here at ZoeyStory and Protected Paws, we have decided to donate to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. You can find it on Facebook here.
Waiting - courtesty of AP Yomiuri Shimbun
This entity is a coalition of three different animal rescue organizations in Japan that have been rescuing and rehoming animals for many years. You can donate to them here.
Every little bit helps. As always at ZoeyStory, we are solely interested in helping those who cannot help or speak for themselves. And while this story is a bit different from our usual focus on puppy mills, it nevertheless is of both immediate human interest and involves dogs and other animals damaged by this unfathomable tragedy not of their making.
Press reports have rightly focused on the human impacts from the earthquake and tsunami, leaving little time for the plight of animals like the ones in the video we’ve embedded above. To all animal lovers like us, please do whatever you can to aid and protect those who can’t do so themselves.