Misawa residents upset over old plan
to euthanize pets in event of evacuation
By Wayne Specht, Misawa
bureau chief
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Edgren High School teacher Randy Click
spent an uneasy weekend after hearing that pets would be humanely destroyed if civilians
had to be evacuated from the base.
During a briefing by Air Force officials at Sollars Elementary School
last Friday, noncombatant evacuation packets were handed out that stated, among a lengthy
list of things to do before evacuation, that owners would deliver their pets “to the
base soccer field for humane destruction.”
“My first reaction was we (he and wife Denise) would refuse to
go into the evacuation if that meant putting our pet’s life in danger,” said
Click, who lost another dog to natural causes just last week.
Another Edgren teacher said she immediately thought of resigning
rather than putting down her dog and cat.
On Monday, Misawa’s base veterinarian was helping calm the
nerves of fretful pet owners.
“That paperwork is as old as the hills,” said Army Capt.
(Dr.) Douglas Owens. “We’re getting updated NEO paperwork regarding pets into
the chain of command. No one’s going to have to leave their pets behind.”
That new paperwork requires owners to have current vaccinations for
their pets, and an airline-approved carrier large enough to allow an animal to stand and
turn around.
“Owners would be asked to bring their pets and vaccinations
certificates, along with a three-day supply of whatever they are presently feeding them,
to Misawa’s Mokuteki Community Center for processing,” Owens said.
Although the pet drop-off location could change, Owens said every
effort will be made to ship pets out when feasible.
“Obviously pets are not going to take priority over people, but
when aircraft are made available, then pets will be flown out.”
Owens said he is responding to several e-mails from concerned pet
owners questioning the old procedures.
Last week, Misawa officials told off-base residents to find homes on
base where they could stay if they were ordered to move as part a force-protection effort
dubbed Operation Safe Haven.
Click said that raised some new questions in his mind.
“If we come in for a lockdown and bring our pets, and they
decide to evacuate a week or two later, do we as civilians have the right to say ‘no
thank you’ and walk off the base with our pets?” he said. “Or once we agree
to lockdown, have we condemned our animals?”
Owens said Safe Haven is a separate issue from noncombatant
evacuation, and base officials still are addressing the ramifications of off-base
residents bringing pets to on-base homes.
“There could be a moratorium on the two-pets per home and no
pets allowed in towers (policy), it would depend upon the situation at hand,” he
said. “It’s just now being addressed.”
Click said an owner’s fondness for a pet is a significant issue
that needs to be considered along with everything else if a full-scale evacuation is
necessary.
“The veterinarian told me quite a few people are closer to their
dogs than they are to their family members, and I agree heartily with that,” he said.
“My concern in life is to take care of family, and our dog is a family member.”
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