DOGS KILLING - PLEASE STOP IT.

[Guest guest]

*The Philippines*

 

*Click here <http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net/phil.html#phil> to scroll

directly to ITD's campaign.*

 

 

 

*For anyone naive enough to believe that the passing of legislation in South

Korea (or any other Asian country) to ensure that dogs are killed " humanely "

would end the torture, this should be sufficient proof that they are wrong.

The only solution can be a complete ban on this trade, rigorously

enforcedby the authorities. In the Philippines, dogs are usually sold

at markets

while still alive, their front limbs dislocated and tied painfully behind

their backs, and a jagged tin can rammed over their jaws to make them easier

to handle. All in blatant disregard of a law that carries a minimal penalty

which the police do not bother to even try to enforce.

 

Click here for the Philippines Animal Welfare

Act<http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net/Phil%20An%20Wel.html>

 

Further information can be found at PAL - Network for

Animals<http://www.networkforanimals.org/home.htm>

**

 

The following item was reported by Sky News in October 2002. " Horror

Of Illegal Dog Trade "

 

Animal welfare campaigners have accused the Philippines government of not

doing enough to end the suffering of dogs bred for the dinner table.

 

 

The animals face horrendous conditions and are killed brutally before

their meat is served up as a " delicacy " . Sky's Martin Brunt has been to

Manila to investigate. He filed this special report to Sky News Online:

 

The black, unmarked police car had shadowed the small truck for 20 miles as

it weaved its way through heavy traffic along the highway towards Manila.

 

Just beyond the toll booth at the city limit the cops swung in front of

their target and forced it to stop.

 

As we approached we could smell the dogs and hear their whimpering.

 

Airless

 

They were crammed into metal cages which the illegal meat traders had barely

bothered to hide beneath cloths and empty oil cans.

 

It was 9pm on a humid, airless night. The temperature was nudging 28

degrees. A cursory glance into the back of the truck gave a clear hint of

the wretched animals' plight.

 

The full horror was revealed only when an officer had forced open the metal

rear door.

 

 

There was such a jumble of heads, tails and legs it was impossible to tell

which limbs belonged to which dog. According to animal rights campaigners,

each night truck-loads of dogs like these are driven in appalling conditions

from the southern suburbs of the capital north to the mountainous region of

Baguio, where they are butchered, sold and eaten as a delicacy.

 

Corruption

 

For two years the London-based campaign group Political Animal Lobby has

been battling to stop the trade.

 

It is outlawed by the Philippines authorities, but an apparent lack of will,

police corruption and inadequate penalties mean it continues much as before.

 

Pal's David Barritt splashed water through the mesh of the cages as he

struggled to untie the wire fastenings that held them shut. " Just look at

their suffering, " he said. " They are hot and desperate for air and water.

It's difficult to imagine what they have been through. "

 

Pal members who later accompanied the 75 dogs to the local pound said that

30 of them were dead on arrival.

 

Fines

 

The truck driver and his mate, two dishevelled Filippinos in grubby T-shirts

and shorts, were led off to the police station. They were released after

questioning.

 

Brunt: " shocked " Although the offence can carry a jail sentence and/or a

maximum fine of 5,000 pesos (�61) offenders are seldom ordered to pay more

than 1,000 pesos (�12).

 

" We are pressing the government to give much bigger fines and start seizing

vehicles, " said Barritt.

 

" That's the only way these people will understand what they are doing is

wrong. There just isn't the deterrent for them to stop. "

 

We flew 167 miles north into the mountains to see what happened to the dogs

that weren't intercepted by police.

 

Slaughter

 

The area around Baguio City is the dog-eating centre of the Philippines

where for centuries people have killed and eaten the animals with impunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illegal trade Today, little is being done to enforce the new laws.

 

An early-morning raid on an illegal slaughterhouse took us into a scene from

hell. It was no more than a grubby backyard with bamboo shelters, its

cracked concrete floor splattered with fresh blood.

On a table in the middle was a pile of dead dogs, their throats slashed and

their jaws still tightly bound with plastic ties. One of the animals began

to twitch. Blood dripped from its mouth.

 

Blow torch

 

Around them were the tools of the butcher's trade - a blood-stained wooden

club used to beat the dogs, knives and choppers to finish them off and a

gas-fired blow torch for burning away their fur.

 

And in cages nearby were the dogs which would have been next for the

chopping block. They stared meekly at us, subdued, weak from heat exhaustion

and unable to make any noise.

 

With no food or water, they had watched their fellow animals being

slaughtered and must have assumed that we had come to do the same to them.

 

Some of them were lucky and would survive, but many were expected to be put

down humanely, too weak to recover from their ordeal. "

 

 

**

 

 

** " Cruelty to animals rampant in Philippines "

 

**

by Neal H. Cruz

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5th Feb 2002

 

THE PHILIPPINE Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did not like

a phrase in my Jan. 10 column that described the PSPCA as �next to useless�

and sent me a letter to prove that it is not, in fact, next to useless. But

first, let me give you a background of the PSPCA as it is so, well, inactive

that people hardly notice it.

 

The PSPCA was created by a special law, Act 1285, in 1904 by the Philippine

Commission during the American regime. The primary objective of the law was

to �enforce the law against cruelty to animals and to do other acts that

will alleviate the suffering of animals.� Its first officers were mostly

Americans.

 

Since then, the PSPCA acted as enforcer of laws to prevent cruelty to

animals with police power to make arrests. In 1936, however, Commonwealth

Act 148 amending Act 1285 was enacted, withdrawing the police power of the

PSPCA supposedly to correct a serious defect of the law. The cruel treatment

of animals was viewed as an offense against the state and therefore it is

the government who is duty-bound to enforce it.

 

�Since then, the PSPCA became a toothless tiger,� said the letter by PSPCA

president Edgardo Aldaba, �but not �next to useless� for we are engaged in

other activities regarding promotion of welfare of animals which among

others include the following:

 

�1. Operating and maintaining an animal clinic charging a minimal fee of 40

pesos.

 

�2. Providing shelter for abandoned canines, felines, lupines, avians and

even amphibians for as long as its limited resources can sustain while

looking for a prospective foster owner.

 

�3. Giving free anti-rabies vaccination in different barangays in Metro

Manila.

 

�4. Giving lectures in different city schools of Manila for the proper care

of animals in order to mold them to be responsible pet owners. �5. Providing

job training for graduating veterinary students of different veterinary

schools in the country.

 

�6. Providing legal advice and counseling to owners of pets which became

victims of man�s cruelty to animals.�

 

The letter said the PSPCA also assists in the criminal prosecution of these

cruelty cases.

 

�I would also like to bring to your kind attention,� Aldaba wrote, �to the

fact that the PSPCA was given recognition by international organizations for

its participation in the prevention of cruelty to animals.�

 

Enclosed were photocopies of a certificate of recognition from the

International Fund for Animal Welfare, and a certificate of appreciation

from the Animal Protection Institute of America based in Sacramento,

California. It was dated February 1984. Such a long time ago. Aren�t there

any for more recent activities?

 

The PSPCA has a special place in my memory. When I was a student living on

Lepanto Street, behind the old Selecta building at the corner of C.M. Recto,

the PSPCA was only a few steps away. I used to go there and look at the dogs

and feel sorry for them and wished I and the PSPCA and the government could

do more for them. But then, as it is today, not much is being done for them.

On the contrary, things have gotten worse for the dogs.

 

The laws against irresponsible pet ownership and against cruelty to animals

are not being enforced now as strictly as they were being enforced then.

There are more stray dogs now in the streets of Manila and elsewhere in the

Philippines. Dog-eaters are increasing. Dogs are stolen and shipped to

Baguio trussed up and packed in cages. They are killed by bludgeoning them

on the head or nape with a club, then butchered and cooked. Then they are

eaten by drunks as pulutan (bar chow).

 

People in Baguio and the mountain provinces like to eat dog meat because of

the belief that it heats up the body against the cold. This is false. It is

the liquor they drink, not the dog meat, that makes them hot. Wouldn�t it be

wonderful if the PSPCA and the national and local governments can set them

aright?

 

Dog fighting is right now taking place in Metro Manila, participated in by

prominent families. This is prohibited by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)

besides being very cruel to the dogs, yet nobody has ever been arrested and

prosecuted for dog fighting.

 

Horse fighting is also prohibited by AWA, yet it is held openly in Davao and

other parts of Mindanao during town fiestas and other celebrations attended

perhaps by the town mayor, congressman and other officials of the province

and municipality. Horse fighting is also very cruel to the horses. But have

you heard of anybody being arrested and prosecuted for horse fighting?

 

Cockfighting is also very cruel to the fighting cocks. A fight almost always

ends in death. But it is allowed by law because there are so many

sabungeros, many of them prominent and supposedly educated personalities.

But it being legal does not make the practice any less cruel.

 

Wouldn�t it be wonderful if the PSPCA and other animal welfare groups can

educate our people so that someday, such cruel and barbaric acts like dog-,

horse- and cockfighting will be stopped?*

*

 

 

** " 1,000 dogs butchered in Zambo, made into fertilizer "

 

Mindanao News (Philippines), 4 June 2003

 

ZAMBOANGA CITY-- Here�s something for animal rights activists to feast on --

 

In its campaign to get rid of stray dogs in the city�s streets, the local

government here has so far butchered 1,000 of man�s supposed best friend,

their meat ground, then made into fertilizer.

 

City Veterinarian Mario Ariola said they could not incinerate the dogs�

carcasses because it would be a violation of the Clean Air Act.

 

Instead, the dogs� meat and bones were mixed with garbage, then underwent a

process for these to become fertilizers. The process was done at the city�s

solid waste facilities at the Sta. Cruz commercial complex, Lumbangan

dumpsite and at the local government�s slaughterhouse in San Roque.

 

Ariola disclosed that the fertilizers will supply nutrients for plants.

 

This product is apparently a best seller among Zamboangue�os. The local

government is reportedly earning from P10,000 to P14,000 a month from the

sale of such fertilizer.

 

This has apparently become a favorite among some farmers here and even those

from the nearby provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay. Some

are from this city.

 

*

------------------------------

*

 

** " 70 dogs rescued in La Union "

 

By Artemio Dumlao

The Philippine Star 10/26/2004

 

BAGUIO CITY � Seventy dogs from Batangas City loaded in cramped bamboo cages

aboard a jeep enroute to a slaughterhouse here were rescued early yesterday

morning along a checkpoint at Naguillan town, La Union.

 

Policemen led by SPO4 Jesus Fabros and SPO2 Julio Patacsil, along with

operatives of the London-based Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF), intercepted

the jeep, with license plate VAY-696, at around 1:30 a.m. in front of the

Naguillan town hall. Three men were nabbed by the operatives �Ramon Manalo

Cena, Raffy Perez Beco and Teodorico Beco.

 

Brando Gegway, AKF investigator for Northern Luzon, said the trio, all from

San Roque, Rosario town, in Batangas, bring dogs twice a week to an illegal

slaughterhouse in San Carlos Heights, reportedly owned by a certain Jane

Cabiles.

 

Gegway bared that AKF veterinarian Winston Samaniego, who figured in a lot

of dog rescue operations from dog smugglers lately spotted the dog shipment

in Aringay town, also in La Union, prompting him to report to the police who

immediately positioned themselves at the checkpoint in Naguillan.

 

Aringay is approximately 35 kilometers from Naguillan town. Gegway said all

the dogs were brought to the Manila City dog pound for an adoption project.

 

More raids

 

After the successful raid by authorities and the AKF at a slaughterhouse in

Iloilo three weeks ago, similar raids against illegal dog slaughterhouses in

Baguio City are in the offing.

 

Gegway said Baguio slaughterhouses will be busted by authorities armed with

search and seizure warrants.

 

Baguio, well acknowledged as the center of dog meat trade in Northern Luzon,

harbors at least three illegal dog slaughterhouses, which supply dog meat to

restaurants here.

 

Gegway who had coordinated with the Criminal Investigation and Detection

Group (CIDG) of the PNP in the past four successful operations against the

slaughter, sale and trading of dog meat said that they are eyeing even those

selling dog meat in the city market here although the country�s Animal

Welfare Law does not penalize selling dog meat.

 

AKF campaign director Charles Wartenberg said that while the group is

working to amend the law and impose higher penalty to violators, they will

always run against dog traders in any place in the Philippines.

 

For the past two months, at least a hundred dogs had already been rescued

from dog traders from the lowlands who tried to smuggle in the hapless smuts

to Baguio slaughterhouses and restaurants serving dog meat as dishes. �

Artemio Dumlao

 

*

------------------------------

***What you can do.....

 

Feel free to use the following sample email, although if you could write an

original, it would be more likely to be listened to. It should be sent to

the Philippines' President and Vice President, with cc to the other

addresses.

 

Unfortunately the President has no direct email address, but you can send an

email through her web site at http://www.op.gov.ph/contact.asp

 

Vice President vp

 

Cc to Press Secretary opsnews

Department of the Interior and Local Government wtandanar,

mprosales, mpcorpus, tscastillo,

aapanadero, brcatindig, smbenaldo,

egblanco, emabenina, lblariosa,

mqgotis, lttrovela, zmaquende,

sgbulawit, ancortez, magabito,

pcdecastro, vpsuansing, mvvictuelles,

rtrolle, jmcastaneda, effernandez,

rcraffinan, mbreyes, bfpaule,

fcregis, agtirazona, cvmontances,

esmoreno, mebermudez, myhong,

erorden, jbdoque,

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Department of Justice sad, rjl, jrz,

shg <sad,rjl,jrz,shg

Department of Tourism gryoro, otc,

rrdelosreyes, ercajigal,

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tamano

(Emails updated 25/02/06)

 

Click

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send all the above except the President, although if you are using

hotmail it may refuse to send them all at once.

 

 

****

 

Dear Mr Vice President

 

Although I applaud your country's introduction of a law to protect companion

animals (i.e. The Animal Welfare Act, 1998), I am shocked by your lack of

resolve to enforce this law.

 

Section 6 clearly states that;

" It shall be unlawful for any person to torture any animal, to neglect to

provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animal or to

subject any dog or horse to dogfights or horsefights, kill or cause or

procure to be tortured or deprived of adequate care, sustenance or shelter,

or maltreat or use the same in research or experiments not expressly

authorized by the Committee on Animal Welfare. "

 

It also goes on to state;

The killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs. goats, sheep, poultry,

rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer, and crocodiles is likewise hereby declared

unlawful except in the following instances: " and lists several exceptions,

none of which mention either dogs or food.

 

Evidence clearly proves that dogs are currently being sold for human

consumption in Government-approved markets in blatant contravention of this

law. These animals are treated with appaling cruelty.

 

Now that strong evidence exists that the SARS virus outbreak in mainland

China originated from the consumption of infected animals from Guangdong

market, the potential implications of the human consumption of dogs infected

with canine coronavirus are terrifying.

 

I respectfully request that you enforce your Nation's law without delay.

Until you do, I certainly cannot consider taking a holiday in the

Philippines, nor of buying any products from your country. I will

regretfully have to advise my friends to do the same.

*

 

 

--

Naresh Kadyan, Convener, IPFA/SPCA,

Chairman-PFA HARYANA

http://nareshkadyan.blogspot.com/,

http://www.pfaharyana.in

Mobile - +91-9813010595

- +91- 9313312099