From stray dog to rescue dog-
– the story of Yumenosuke –
In November 2010, Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) staff members visited the public animal-care shelter in Hiroshima prefecture. They found a 3-4 months old puppy trembling in front of the gas chamber.
The puppy would have been put down by gas. PWJ decided to adopt him, saving him from the killing machine, so-called the “dream box”.
The dog was named “Yumenosuke”, which means “a boy with a dream/dreams” in Japanese. PWJ entrusted him dream and hope.

PWJ trained Yumenosuke to become a rescue dog. At the beginning, he was scared and trusted no one. But his trainers did not give up. After months of training, he started accepting humans. It was slow but he gradually started showing good progress.
In 2014, Yumenosuke took part in his first search-and-rescue mission in Hiroshima, where heavy rain caused disastrous landslides taking 77 lives, distroying 400 homes. Yumenosuke joined emergency group team with his colleague Hulk. Yumenosuke found a deceased victim.

After the Hiroshima landslides, Yumenosuke headed for the Phillipines in December 2014 prior to Typhoon Hagupit. In April 2015, he was in Nepal and engaged in search-and-rescue activities in areas affected by the earthquake. His most recent activity was in September 2018, after the Hokkaido earthquake. He has gone on 13 missions to save lives around the world.