Dear All,

There is a dimension of this terrible tragedy in Japan that does not normally find its way into academic discussion, but I wish to draw to your attention the plight of companion and farm animals in the tsunami-affected and nuclear-exclusion zones. While the scale of human tragedy is mind-boggling, so is the suffering of animals, who have been crushed or drowned by the tsunami or now left to starve to death (and to be exposed to nuclear radiation) in the nuclear-exclusion zone around the Fukushima power plants. Many animals are not accepted in the shelters and so have had to be left behind.

There is something you can do to help, if you care about the plight of these animals. As far as I can determine, there are three animal welfare organisations on the ground in the affected areas. They are the Japan Animal Welfare Society JAWS. Their website is:
http://www.jaws.or.jp/aboutUs/action.html. There are also two international organisations with teams on the ground: they are IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals). Both have websites. All these organisations will take donations to assist in the care and rescue of these animals in Japan, who have suffered so much.

Best wishes,

Aurelia George Mulgan
UNSW@ADFA