1.1 The Impact of Disasters on Companion Animals
In 2011, a tsunami hit the northeast coast of Japan, resulting in the loss of many lives and the explosion of a nuclear power plant in Fukushima. The Japanese government has since begun to seriously consider how it can better prepare for another such natural disaster. In 2019, attention focused on the likelihood of a second tsunami being caused by a shift of the tectonic plates in the Nankai Trough. The Japanese government is warning that there is a considerable chance of the Nankai Trough causing further magnitude-8 or -9 earthquakes and high tsunamis that would affect the entire south of Japan (the area from Tokyo area to Kyushu). Indeed, the chances of a magnitude-7 earthquake hitting the Tokyo metropolitan area within next 30 years are as high as 70% (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, n.d., see also Hurst 2019).
The 2011 tsunami was unprecedented in Japan, and the government has since learned from the experience. In 2013, the Ministry of the Environment announced “Disaster Measures Guideline for Pet Relief,” Japan’s first disaster guidelines for pets. Although it is not official legislation, local governments are expected to make disaster management plans according to guidelines. These 2013 guidelines strongly recommend the principle of Doko hinan (evacuation with pets).
However, the guidelines did not function well after the Kumamoto earthquake that occurred in 2016. The Ministry of the Environment consequently ordered that the guidelines be reviewed and revised. An investigative committee, consisting of ten experts and nine bureaucrats appointed by the Ministry of Environment, convened on August 2, 2017, September 27, 2017, and January 18, 2018. Brief summaries of each meeting are available to the public online (Ministry of the Environment, n.d.). In March 2018, the Japanese government released a revised edition of its conclusions entitled “Disaster Preparedness Guideline for Humans and Pets.”
One of the reports that emerged from the hearings reveals the bureaucrats in the Ministry and Cabinet Office’s concerns for and general outlook on disasters and pets. One government official commented at the meeting helps on September 27, 2017, with the following statement:
When we use the term “Doko hinan” [evacuation with pets] there is an assumption made by the owners of pets that they should be able to live together with their pets. Would not that imply that some kind of legal right is being established? This guideline should not be used for the claim of the rights. (Ministry of the Environment 2017a: 10)
Any personally identifiable information of the bureaucrat who spoke was not disclosed in the report, a common practice in Japan. Another anonymous bureaucrat commented:
If pets are accorded some kind of rights during an evacuation, their owners will insist that they be able to bring their pets with them to live in refugee accommodations. I think such an outcome should be avoided. (Ministry of the Environment 2017a: 18)
Dr. Shiro Muranaka, Vice President of Japan Veterinary Medical Association, and chairperson for the Review Meeting for the Revision of “Disaster Measures Guideline for Pet Relief,” stated the following at the first meeting on August 12, 2017:
If the term “Doko hinan” [evacuation with pets] is used to justify the owners’ rights, we will be in trouble. (Ministry of the Environment 2017b: 7)
These comments provide some insight into the general outlook of the Japanese government in its reluctance to grant rights for pets when planning for evacuations. When guardians and their animals are required to evacuate during a disaster, the regulations regarding disaster response guidelines made by those in position of authority greatly affect future prospects. Moreover, these laws reflect how much society values human-animal relationships and animal rights. In other words, they reflect how society colonizes animals.
The 2018 version of the guidelines that has been updated title, “The Disaster Response Guidelines on Human and Pets” (Ministry of the Environment 2018), emphasizes the following four points. (i) The self-help by the guardians is basic in disaster response (ibid.: 7); (ii) evacuating with companion animals does not mean staying with companion animals in the refugee accommodation (ibid.: 5, 45); (iii) ensuring the place of refuge by the guardians themselves (ibid.: 17); (iv) pet support provided by the government agencies is not for the animal selves, but for the guardians as human victims (ibid.: 9). Thus, the guidelines declare the administrative support basically saves humans so guardians should not expect public support for pets. The owners are responsible for protecting themselves and their pets by self-help effort. Furthermore, it states that the measures against pets that are carried out by government agencies in the event of a disaster are not for the animals themselves, but from the viewpoint of saving the owners who are the victims. It could be said that the disaster management policy of Japan has become more anthropocentric since the 2011 tsunami and proceeding disasters.
As mentioned, these guidelines came about after the impact of the 2001 tsunami. On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast of Japan was struck by a huge tsunami that affected many people and their animals. This magnitude-9.0 earthquake, officially referred to as the Great East Japan Earthquake, is the largest in the recorded history of Japan (Japan Meteorological Agency 2013: 3). United States Geological Survey ranked this earthquake as the fourth largest earthquake in the history of world (USGS n.d.).
People with pets were refused entry to many communal shelters, and some were forced to abandon their pets. People unwilling to give up their pets often had to survive outside the emergency support frameworks established by government authorities and voluntary groups. Nine years after the disaster, that state of affairs continues to plague those who lost animals or who are struggling to maintain their relationship with their separated pet. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, many Japanese scholars began investigating the effects of a disaster. However, few studies have specifically considered the effects for guardians and their companion animals.
The interdisciplinary field known as Human-Animal Studies (HAS) explores the relationship between humans and other animals. Emerging in the 1990s, predominantly in the Western world, HAS is becoming accepted as a subfield by sociologists. Indeed, in 2002, animals and society was officially given status as a section within the American Sociological Association. DeMello (2012) defines HAS as “an interdisciplinary field that explores the spaces that animals occupy in human social and cultural worlds and the interactions humans have with them” (DeMello 2012: 2). One particular area of interest for those engaged in HAS is the power structure and cultural relations that define interactions between humans and other animals. HAS scholars regularly deal with other aspects pertaining to the experiences of humans living with animals. Research associated with HAS includes a broad range of disciplines such as psychology, veterinary medicine, and law. However, the research in this volume reports on how guardians and their companion animals experienced the aforementioned disaster from a sociological perspective.
Guardians and their companion animals face enormous difficulties in disasters, which raise a number of practical, social problems for policymakers and parties required to deal with humans and their animals whenever such crises occur. Various facets of disasters—those within and out of policymakers’ control—can place strain on the otherwise significant relationship and bond between owners and pets. In addition to the outworking of the interrelation between owner and pet, the way society conceives the relationship itself often reflects previously unconsidered aspects of a society, such as the way power is distributed and embedded in the daily lives of its citizens.
The research discussed in this volume considers not only the relationships between guardians and companion animals, but also the relationships between guardians and other people, including government officials charged with looking after disaster victims. When discussing companion animals, this study pays particular attention to cats and dogs. While the author understands that many other kinds of animals build close relationships with humans, current society reflects that dogs and cats are primary companion animal due to their high prevalence and the strong intimacy between owner and pet. The research presented here explores the way practical support will be rendered when future disasters strike. The author hopes to provide a new way of thinking about the social consequences of how we deal with the human-animals nexus.
In many societies, companion animals are now accepted as social members. However, when disasters occur, companion animals and their guardians can suddenly be targeted, excluded, and even oppressed not only by the state, but also by well-meaning but uninformed voluntaries who are anxious to help those in need. The position afforded to companion animals and their guardians in times of stress reveals real mettle that binds together societies at a deeper level. It is a question about that in an inclusive society, who should be and how should be included even when we against difficulties.
The following three research questions are addressed in this volume:
- (1)How did guardians and their companion animals survive the large disaster?
- (2)Why was the relationship between guardians and their companion animals ignored during and after a disaster?
- (3)What structures or mechanisms shaped the outcomes for animals and their guardians foll...