He took me to Animal Friends Niigata to pick up Koro, who was going home. Koro had his tail stuck tightly between his legs, panting, and would jump whenever he was touched. This poor guy had no idea what was going on. We loaded him up on the van and headed out to the disaster area 4 ½ hours away.
ティムは家に帰宅するコロをPick upするために私をAFNへ連れていってくれました。コロはしっぽを足の間にしっかりといれ、喘いでいましたが、さわられるといつでもジャンプをしまし た。彼は何がおきているのか想像できなかったでしょう。私達は彼を車に乗せ、4時間30分かけて被災地へ向かいました。私は20年以上日本で運転の経験を していなかったので、運転している間中私は自分に左によって、左によってと言い聞かせていました。
コロの恐怖と混乱
Tim showed me the ways of the road as I would be one of the drivers for our team later. I hadn’t driven in Japan for over 20 years…and saying to myself “stay on the left, stay on the left” became my mantra while driving there. He used his iPhone for navigation, along with a GPS system that couldn’t be counted on, and a map in kanji. Unfortunately, especially for me, there are no local road maps in English. I ended up using the maps in Kanji myself later, which I somehow managed and by the end of the trip, was very proud to have put that on to my list of challenges met during my trip! Thank goodness I speak the language…not fluently, but very, very well.
He showed me how to use the Geiger counters and how to take the measurements. He showed me the different “pockets” where radiation levels changed, and even how to talk with the border patrols that we ran into. I must say that the police on the patrol were all very gracious and polite. You could sense that they were appreciative of our efforts, but their jobs required them to keep all people out of the restricted areas for our safety. They were always helpful in providing any information that they could.
ティムは私に道を教えてくれました。後で、彼は私達のチームのドライバーの１人とな りました。彼はナビゲーションにIPoneを使いました。頼りににできなかったGPSシステム、そして日本語の地図も。私にとって英語の地図がなかったこ とは残念でした。結局旅の終わりまでどうにか日本語の地図を使用しました。このことは私にとって今回の旅での挑戦のリストに加えられ、私はそれを誇りにお もいました。私は流暢に話せないが、上手く話せることに感謝します。
彼は私にガイガーカウンターの使い方と計測の仕方を教えてくれ、放射線レベルが変化 する異なる場所を私に見せてくれました。さらに私達がはいる地域の警備員との接し方まで教えてくれました。私はパトロールの警察官は皆上品で礼儀正しかっ たと言わなければなりません。彼らは私達の努力に感謝したとおもうかもしれませんが、彼らの仕事は私達の安全のために全ての人々を制限区域内にいれないこ とです。彼らはいつでもできうる限りの有用な情報を提供してくれました。
The government has closed off the area 20 km from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. People were allowed to return there to retrieve some articles and to feed their pets and farm animals for short spurts of time. Then they suddenly closed it without any warning to the people who live there. The animals were suddenly left without any food or water and forced to starve…many to a slow and horrendous death.
政府は、福島第一原子力発電所から半径20kを閉鎖しました。人々は短い時間、家庭 用品をとりに戻ったり、ペットや家畜の餌をやるために戻ることを許可されました。その後、政府は突然そこに住む住民に通告もなくそこを閉鎖にしました。動 物達は突然水も食料もない状況に取り残され、やむなく餓えて…多くがゆっくりと死へ向かいました。
In Japan, there are no stray dogs as they are put down at the shelters if nobody claims them in 72 hours. During disaster times, the rules are lifted. I was told that government workers are shifted from one section to another meaning that someone who works for taxes may find themselves working in the government animal shelters next, and then go on to work at another department. So, it’s pretty much the roll of a dice for the pets of whether there happens to be someone who appreciates animals or not working in the animal shelters. This is why it was so critical to us to bring the animals to AFN even if it was 4 1/2 hours away.
日本では、野良犬がいません。保護された野良犬は72時間以内に飼主が引き取らなければ、安楽死させるためです。この規則は現在被災地には適用されません。
これは私達が4時間30分もかけてAFNへ動物達をつれてくる最大の理由です。
The residents living just outside the 20 km restricted zone had seen an influx of animals, usually roaming in packs, right after the disaster. They would see 30 to 40 dogs out looking for their families and for food. Most dogs waited at home for their families to come back…and many are still there today…waiting.
20kmの制限区域外に住んでいる住民は、災害直後に区域外に流入し群れで歩き回る動物達をみていました。彼らは家族や食物を探す30匹〜40匹の犬達をみるでしょう。犬達のほとんどは家族の元へ返りたがっています…今日、まだ多くの犬達が待ち続けています。
