A potentially dangerous cat puts a Japanese city on alert
The first signs of an intruder in the metalworking factory were footprints, ocher in color and varying in number of toes. A review of security footage confirmed the security breach and authorities quickly issued a public warning.
Be on the lookout, residents of Fukuyama, Japan have been warned about a cat with ‘abnormalities’.
For the past week, the city has been on the lookout for the potentially dangerous cat that appears to have fallen into a tank of toxic chemicals at the factory, Nomura Plating Corporation, and then escaped, darting across a darkened factory site and into the city. big.
Officials have contacted the city council, school board and daycare centers to warn them of the possible risk.
Motonari Ibaraki, a representative of Nomura Plating, said the prints near the tank were spotted by an employee who arrived at work Monday morning and that security video showed the cat fleeing the factory around 9:30 the night before.
The tank is holding up hexavalent chromium, a reddish-brown solution commonly used in plating that has been shown to cause lung cancer in humans when inhaled. According to the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the effects of exposure can also include kidney and liver damage, nose and skin irritation and ulcers, and eye irritation and damage.
Workers handling the chemical take precautions such as using masks and rubber gloves. The ocher paw prints suggest the cat was more reckless, so Fukuyama residents have been warned to be careful if they encounter it.
The message is simple, says Satoshi Taki, who works at the Fukuyama City Environment Conservation Division: Don’t touch the cat. Call the authorities.
Mr Ibaraki, the Nomura Plating representative, said the tank had been covered with a sheet at the factory to prevent fog from rising, but was found loose on Monday morning – probably because the cat had fallen into it. He said the company would now take measures to prevent small animals from entering the factory.
The cat had not yet been seen on Friday morning. Mr Taki said ultimately it may not have survived the factory experience.
Hisako Ueno reporting contributed.