Thousands of Japanese residents suddenly found themselves homeless after the earthquake and tsunami. Despite dire conditions in shelters, some dog owners are finding the comfort of home in their faithful four-legged friends.
Akane Ito embraces her dog Mei at an evacuation centre in Natori near Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011. Mei was returned to her seven days after she went missing following the earthquake triggered tsunami.
AP Photo/Mark Baker
Akane Ito hugs her dog Mei at an evacuation centre in Natori near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011.
AP Photo/Mark Baker
A woman sits with her dog at an evacuation centre in Natori near Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Friday, March 18, 2011.
AP Photo/Mark Baker
A family along with their pet dog warm themselves around a stove at an evacuation centre in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Thursday, March 17, 2011.
AP Photo/Kyodo News
Two elderly Japanese women and a pet dog pass by a ship that washed into their neighborhood by the tsunami as they try to make their way to search for their destroyed home in the leveled city of Kesennuma, in northeastern Japan, Thursday March 17, 2011.
AP Photo/David Guttenfelder
A dog receives a radiation exposure scanning in Koriyama, northern Japan, Thursday, March 17, 2011, after Friday's earthquake and tsunami.
AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Koichi Nakamura
A man holds his dog as they wait to be scanned for radiation exposure at a temporary scanning centre for residents living close to the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
A woman holds her dog as they are scanned for radiation at a temporary scanning centre for residents living close to the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
A woman holds her dog as they are scanned for radiation exposure at a temporary scanning centre for residents living close to the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
A woman with her pet dog and belongings pauses on the way from her devastated area in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011, three days after a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami hit the country's east coast.
AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Hiroto Sekiguchi
A family takes a rest with their pet dog at a shelter at Minamisanriku town, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011, three days after a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami hit the country's east coast.
AP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Daisuke Uragami
A man holds his dog as they are scanned for levels of radiation in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, March 13, 2011.
AP Photo/Mark Baker
A man walks with a dog across a residential area devastated by Friday's earthquake-triggered tsunami in Rikuzentakada, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Sunday, March 13, 2011.
AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi
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