The Abandoned Pets Of Fukushima, A Year Later

Nearly a year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that crippled Japan's nuclear reactors, abandoned dogs and cats still roam the ghost towns within the evacuation zones. Volunteers from the United Kennel Club Of Japan, braving radiation poisoning, are doing their best to try and save these animals.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

An empty shopping street is seen in Namie town, inside the exclusion zone of a 20-km (12-mile) radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture January 28, 2012. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011 triggered the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years and forced residents around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to flee, leaving behind in many cases their household belongings or pets. The triple disaster is still forcing more than 150,000 people from Fukushima prefecture to take refuge, nearly half of them from the no-go zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Members of United Kennel Club Japan (UKC Japan) care for pets which are rescued from inside the exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at the group's pet shelter in Samukawa town, Kanagawa prefecture January 25, 2012. Dogs and cats that were abandoned in the Fukushima exclusion zone after last year's nuclear crisis have had to survive high radiation and a lack of food, and they are now struggling with the region's freezing winter weather.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Dogs which were rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Cats which were rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A dog rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Cats rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

UKC Japan Representative Director Yasunori Hoso speaks in front of a destroyed house in Namie town.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A tsunami destroyed house is seen in Namie town.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

The body of small dog is seen in Namie town.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A dog which was rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A cat which was rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Dogs rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

The abandoned Okuma childcare center is seen in the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

Cars and a ship destroyed by a tsunami are seen at Ukedo district in Namie town.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

The ashes of cats who died after being rescued from the Fukushima exclusion zone, placed in urns at the UKC Japan's pet shelter.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A dog rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.

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Issei Kato / Reuters

A cat which was rescued by UKC Japan from inside the exclusion zone.