Hundreds of pets abandoned inside cages, compounds in Taal-hit areas —PETA

Photo courtesy of PETA

Hundreds of animals were found abandoned in compounds and cages by their owners who fled their homes due to Taal Volcano's eruption, according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which conducted rescue operations.

PETA told GMA News Online via email that majority of the animals were locked inside gated compounds.

“Our rescue team have come across hundreds, if not thousands, of animals in the evacuation zone, the majority of whom are locked inside gated compounds,” PETA Asia's special projects coordinator Nirali Shah said on Tuesday.

“In order to help the most animals as quickly as possible, we’ve been dropping food and fresh water through the gates to them,” Shah added.

For Tuesday, PETA Asia said around 500 kilograms of food will be given to the animals in the eruption-affected areas in Batangas.

“We’re doing everything we can to get onto Taal Island (right now, authorities aren’t allowing anyone access) as well as feeding and giving water to animals in the evacuation zone whose caretakers have fled the area,” PETA said on its website Monday.

PETA Asia is hopeful that the animals’ guardians will come back for them in a day or two, Shah said.

PETA Asia said cash donations can also be sent thru their Metrobank account: Account name: PETA Asia-Pacific Limited;  Account number: 007-066-31632-3.

PHIVOLCS has raised Alert Level 4 over the Taal Volcano after a phreatic eruption took place at the crater on Sunday. The province of Batangas was placed under a state of calamity on Monday. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News