Tsunami dog rescued from debris raft

KESENNUMA, Japan -- The Japanese coast guard says it's found a dog who survived the massive tsunmai and reportedly remained at sea.

The dog believed to be at sea since March 11th, was reportedly picked up by the Japanese coast guard on Friday (April 1).

The rescued dog, which appeared to be well-fed despite its plight, is believed to have survived the massive tsunami of March 11 and also three weeks at sea. It appeared in good condition.

The dog was reportedly found on the floating roof of a house that had been washed out to sea, 1.1 miles from the coast of Kesennuma in northern Japan. It evaded capture for several hours as it scrambled over the large floating rubble raft and disappeared under the roof of a home in the raft.

Friday was the first day of an intensive operation to search for and recover the 18,000 people still missing and now presumed dead three weeks after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a killer tsunami. A total of 27,500 people were either killed or are still missing.

U.S. forces, Japan's Self Defense force, Japanese police and coast guards on Friday launched a three day operation involving 120 aircraft and 65 vessels over three northern Japanese prefectures. Japanese broadcaster NTV said the Japanese Coast Guard had been hoping the dog would lead them to the pet's owner.

Once captured, the dog captured the hearts of the coast guard when it licked its rescuer's hands.

The coast guard could only speculate who the dog belonged to - it could not find a name tag or ID on the collar.

And while it was shaken by the experience, the dog seemed to quickly get used to its new home on the coast guard vessel.