The Stray Dogs of the Philippines

[Guest guest]

This really made me angry!

This article is from " It's Their Destiny " (http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net).

 

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Dear Friends

 

Those of you that have been receiving our Updates for a while will be aware

of the " sincerity " with which the Philippines govt has enforced its Animal

Welfare Act (http:\\itstheirdestiny.2kat.net\Phil An Wel.html). The

administration in the capital Manila has now however blatantly betrayed the

hopes of those Filipinos and the international community who believed that

this Act might one day be respected by the authorities.

 

As visitors to our site will know, dogs are not generally regarded as having

much more value than a dinner in the Philippines, in direct contravention of

the AWA.

 

http:\\itstheirdestiny.2kat.net\phil.html

 

What hope therefore for the stray dogs of Manila? These helpless creatures

who had little hope of decent treatment at the hands of Man in the past now

face a fate that most of the world has banned as too cruel for the foulest

of murderers - electrocution.

 

The following report is taken from the Inquirer News Service today.

 

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It's a (horrible) dog's life for Manila's strays

 

July 08, 2005

Updated 00:17am (Mla time)

Tina G. Santos

Inquirer News Service

 

 

 

HORRIBLE.

 

This was how members of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)

described the method being considered by the city government of Manila to

get rid of stray dogs.

 

As of yesterday, more than a hundred dogs at the city pound were killed

through electrocution.

 

Emil Rabano, a volunteer of PAWS who documented the procedure, said city

pound personnel would pull a dog from a cage with a long steel pole with a

rope at the end.

 

" A dog is dragged, almost suffocating, to the electrocution chamber, " he

said. " The dog is literally sandwiched between the metal cage and steel roof

Electricity is then released, passing through the roof and then transmitted

to the dog. "

 

The dead dogs are then put on a big weighing scale, one on top of the other.

In batches of 10, their stomachs are slit while the veterinarian injects

enzymes into them, he added.

 

" The dogs were really treated brutally. Vets use about 300 to 500 volts of

electricity per three seconds in the process, " Rabano said.

 

But according to Dr. Manuel Socorro of the city's Veterinary Inspection

Bureau (VIB), the procedure was just part of an experiment to find a less

expensive method than lethal injection, which costs the city government

about P250 per dog.

 

Dogs that were mostly sick, emaciated and afflicted with mange, and left

unclaimed by their owners were usually put to sleep through lethal injection

he said, adding that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had given them the

go signal to proceed with the study.

 

" The BAI gave us a year to conduct the experiment. We started about two

months ago. We still have to submit the results to the BAI for deliberation,

Socorro said. About 30 more dogs are scheduled to undergo the same method

until next month.

 

Mayor Lito Atienza said he was not aware that there was such a study being

conducted by the VIB.

 

However, he admitted that it was the city's policy " to put them (unclaimed

dogs) to sleep. "

 

" But there are other civilized ways to do it, definitely not through

electrocution. I will not allow it, " he said.

 

Atienza added that he had asked Dr. Jose Diaz, the city veterinarian, to

explain the matter. An investigation could follow, if necessary, he said.

 

Meanwhile, PAWS officials said they intend to give a letter expressing their

concern to city officials of Manila.

 

" Experiments are allowed, but animals should not suffer unnecessary pain, "

said Ramona Consunji, one of the directors of PAWS.

 

" It may be legal because it was allowed by the BAI, but it does not make it

less unethical, immoral and inhumane, " she added. " These barbaric practices

simply are not allowed in civilized societies such as ours. "

 

" Electrocution is the second most commonly used method that had been already

banned to get rid of unclaimed dogs, next to poisoning. We're going one step

backwards, " said Anna Cabrera, another PAWS director.

 

Cabrera even cited the recent " Dog Walk For a Cause (Luv ko c Bantay) "

campaign where thousands of dogs and their owners took to the streets to

protest the senseless cruelty and indiscriminate slaughter of dogs.

 

" It's embarrassing. The city that launched a dog walk to fight animal cruelty is

now killing dogs, " Cabrera added.