272 lost pet reports filed after M7.1 Kumamoto quake, less than half found

KUMAMOTO, Japan - Animal shelters in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto had received 272 reports of missing pets as of Aug. 25, after the region was rocked by a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in July, the prefectural and city governments said Friday.

Of those, 129 have since been found and returned to their owners, including animals captured as strays by authorities under rabies prevention and other legislation that were later found to be lost pets.