About 70 dogs and cats are still living in a shelter in Sendai, almost three years after the region was devastated in the March 2011 disasters.
"I would like to continue to look after these animals until all of them can reunite with their owners," said Takashi Wagatsuma, 43, head of the shelter operator called Dogwood.
Shortly after the March 11 disasters, the 1-hectare shelter took care of as many as 300 dogs and cats that formerly lived in homes in not only Miyagi but also Iwate and Fukushima prefectures.