(Originally published in the March 18-24, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---
a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---
by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)
ANIMAL rights advocates are up in arms following a broad daylight display of cruelty to animals right in the middle of Session Road last weekend.
The incident involves an unidentified person who stuffed a live dog into a sack and hanged the sack into the spare tire of his green Nissan Patrol. The snout of the dog was also tied shut with a nylon cord.
A concerned private citizen identified as Dezzy Belle was able to take a photograph of the motor vehicle as it cruised along Session Road to an unknown destination and immediately reported the incident it to the police station along Governor Pack Road.
Quickly acting on the report, police personnel Jaime Fonacier flagged down the motor vehicle to confront the driver who reasoned that he was forced to hang the dog at the tail gate of the motor vehicle because the motor vehicle is fully occupied with six passengers. He also reasoned that the dog is emitting foul odor.
Another witness who claimed to have peeked inside the motor vehicle said there are no other passengers in the motor vehicle but instead saw pots and other cooking implements which suggests that the dog in bound to be slaughtered for human consumption.
“We have to raise awareness among the people. We have to correct the wrong notion that it is only a dog. It’s not just about dogs. It’s about a living creature,” Baguio-based Ivy Buenaobra said. She is currently the Education Officer of the Animal Kingdom Foundation.
Animal Kingdom Foundation or AKF is a non-stock, non-profit animal welfare organization whose mission is to support, protect and promote welfare and the rights of animals and to eliminate the practice of illegal slaughter of dogs for human consumption and to introduce legislations or amendments in the existing animal-welfare laws of the Philippines. It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and duly enlisted with the Bureau of Animal Industry’s Animal Welfare Division of the Department of Agriculture. AKF has been in the forefront of animal-welfare advocacy in the country since 2002 enforcing the Republic Act 8485-Animal Welfare Act of 1998. AKF is the local affiliate of the International Wildlife Coalition Trust (IWCT) based in the United Kingdom.
Buenaobra said AKF is set t file charges against the owner of the motor vehicle for violation of the Animal Welfare Act (RA 8485) and Administrative Order 10 of the Department of Agriculture (on transporting of animals).
The motor vehicle has been traced to be registered to a lawyer from Quezon City.
The incident also triggered outrage in the popular social network Facebook where the photograph was posted and circulated.
“Obviously not enough was done by the police; it is painfully obvious that this dog was bound for the dinner plate,” said Utah-based Filipina Maria Parsons said on Facebook. “Sadly the ignorance of the police to RA 8485 in a district that is a well known hot-bed for the dog-meat trade does not bode well for the welfare of that dog. Administrative charges should be looked at also. The police should be held accountable for not acting to enforce the law.”
“This is intolerable,” Nena Hernandez added.*
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