Dog trading in PHL very alarming — Animal Kingdom Foundation

(Updated 7:42 p.m.) Despite an intensive campaign against the illegal dog trade and the dangerous consumption of dog meat, dog trading in the country is very alarming, according to Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF). 

 

"The fact na intensive naman yung pangangampanya na illegal at hindi safe ang pagkain ng karne ng aso, tuloy tuloy pa rin," Dr. Roland Arciga, AKF chief veterinarian, said in a report on GMA News' Unang Balita on Wednesday. Arciga issued his statement following the rescue of at least 60 dogs in Alfonso, Cavite. At the time of the rescue, the dogs were being transported and to subsequently slaughtered in Baguio City.   

 

AKF, a local affiliate of the British-based International Wildlife Coalition Trust, has been working to eliminate the practice of illegal slaughter of dogs for human consumption since 2002.

 

Since then, arrests have been made with the AKF accompanying the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during raids in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Tuguegarao City and in the province of Cagayan Valley. Illegal dog-traders were apprehended and slaughter-bound dogs were also recovered in Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Baguio, Bicol, Iloilo and Negros. Tradition? Eating dog meat is a tradition in some areas in the Philippines. In Sarap, a series of essays on Philippine food published in 1988, Edilberto N. Alegre wrote that despite the campaign by police and civic-oriented groups, many contimue to relish dog meat. "Part of its attraction derives precisely from its being kept underground. The sentiment is derived from the British- or American-imbibed idea that killing dogs (which are beloved pets in the Anglo-American countries) especially for their meat is an immoral, if not criminal, act of cruelty. But the eating of pork and beef is allowed. Thus, the Philippine attitude towards dog meat really has no basis in the democratic culinary tradition, in which animals are equally edible,” writer Laurel Fantauzzo quoted Alegre. According to Chief Inspector Gil Torralba of the Cavite Police Provincial Office in the Unang Balita report, dog meat is a popular dish in Baguio. Cavite police were acting on a tip by AKF in conducting the operation. The dogs are sold from P150- 300, the report said. 

 

One dog did not survive, as the dogs were kept in a wooden cage inside a van, and may have gone without food for two to three days, the report said.

 

"Sa mga nagaalaga ng aso, maging responsable naman sana tayo. Ang mga alaga nating aso huwag natin hayaang gumagala at of course, huwag nating ibenta sa mga illegal dog trader," Arciga said on Unang Balita.

 

The rescued dogs will be brought to the AKF Animal Rehabilitation and Rescue Center in Tarlac for treatment, where a growing number of dogs are kept. According to AKF, they have delivered more than 800 live dogs to various pounds in the country.

 

Police are now preparing charges against the suspects for violating the Animal Welfare Act and the Anti-Rabies Act. Republic Act 8485, the Philippine Animal Welfare Act of 1998, prohibits the killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles with exemptions for religious, cultural, research, public safety or animal health reasons.

 

According to Brando Gegway, AKF–Luzon senior investigative researcher, his group’s campaign against dog meat sale is not meant to challenge the Cordillera culture where most people insist that eating dog meat is a tradition.

 

“Its all about protecting the peoples health due to the high risk of rabies that can be taken from eating dog meats," he said in 2008, when six people were arrested for engaging in dog meat trade in Baguio. This was the first time in the Philippines that someone was arrested for violating the Anti-Rabies Law (R.A 9482), which was signed in 2007.  

Under the law, trading dogs for meat is punishable by 1-4 years in prison and P5,000 penalty for each dog seized. 

 

AKF stressed that eating dog meat is unhealthy, because of the possible spread of bacteria and rabies. AKF warns that aside from dog bites, you can also get rabies by eating its meat.

 

"Very familiar sa atin 'yung sakit na rabies. Ang pagkakaalam natin dati, nakukuha lang ito sa kagat ng aso dahil sinasabi yung virus nagmumultiply at naglalagi sa laway ng aso. Pero lately, nadiskubre ng mga scientist na even sa pagkain ng karne ng aso, nandoon din pala yung virus," Arciga said in an Imbestigador report last June. 

 

Just last Tuesday, a man died in Ilocos Norte after eating dog meat, according to a report on Balita Pilipinas Ngayon. 

 

Doctors could not say for sure what the cause of death was, but they advised all who had eaten dog meat to get anti-rabies vaccination, the same report said. — Carmela G. Lapeña/RSJ/KBK, GMA News