Stray dogs in Cagayan de Oro are gassed, drowned

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The city pound here employs drowning and gassing processes against stray dogs in an apparent bid to eradicate rabies and an animal welfare group is saying that this violates the law. The Animal Welfare Coalition said that if the allegations are true, the Cagayan de Oro City Pound Office violates Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act by using drowning and gas poisoning to get rid of the stray dogs. The City Veterinary Office, in its effort to curb the rabies incidents, has apparently been experimenting on various ways of euthanizing dogs since 1996 such as drowning, gas poisoning and intracranial injection. The CVO said it is not using electrocution. Dr. Perla Asis, CDO city veterinarian, said the City Pound could catch about 100-150 stray dogs in a month despite the massive educational and information campaigns the local government is doing in schools and in the villages. In August, the city pound had drowned about 10 dogs. Joey Nacalaban, a photojournalist of Sunstar Cagayan de Oro, accidentally covered the drowning of dogs at a local landfill in August. "My sibling's dog was reportedly impounded. So, we were told to go to landfill and see if we can find the dog there and lo! what I saw was a dog being drowned while others were already dead. So, I took pictures and published it in the paper," said Nacalaban. Nacalaban said he saw about 10 dead dogs. He said the dogs died about five minutes after drowning. The drowning was done in public. "Some scavengers could even dug remains of the dogs as they search garbage for things that can still be sold," Nacalaban said. In an email sent to GMANews.TV, Ramona Eliza Consunji, AWC external affairs officer, said the city pound office is committing a crime when it is euthanizing dogs through drowning. "The City Pound Officer has committed a crime. He should go to jail," said Consunji. Gas chamber Stray dogs in Cagayan de Oro are also being euthanized through an improvised gas chamber using vehicle exhaust - carbon monoxide. The improvised gas chamber is made of wood and hard flex sheets. An average of 25 to 35 dogs are euthanized every Thursdays. Asis told GMANews.TV that carbon monoxide poisoning started April this year. The gas poisoning of stray dogs is also being done at the landfill. She said 28 dogs were euthanized on September 4. The gassing procedure lasts for 40 minutes. Consunji said all gas chambers for animal euthanasia should meet the standards approved by the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture and the one being used by Cagayan de Oro seemed makeshift. But Asis said the improvised gas chamber has been approved by the BAI because it is an acceptable method of euthanazing animals. Consunji believed the 40-minute procedure was absolutely cruel and the use of sodium pentobarbital through lethal injection would have been better to spare the dog from much pain and agony. "It did not follow the specifications required by law. There was no air and the use of fuel exhaust made it very, very cruel," said Consunji. However, Consunji said that the law allows carbon monoxide poisoning provided the proper measures are employed. Injection Asis said that prior to using carbon monoxide poisoning, the city pound employed intracranial injection but they discontinue it due the injuries sustained by their staff. "One of our staff lost one finger after a dog bit him while doing the intracranial injection," said Asis. Consunji said intracranial injection is also cruel as it goes to the brain and the dogs would still struggle. She said the best way to euthanize dogs is through the lethal injection, however, it should be done properly too. "Sodium pentobarbital is the best method to use because the gas poisoning, drowning, electrocution and intracranial injection do not cause instant death. The dogs would still suffer," she said. Asis agreed with Consunji but she said lethal injection is too expensive. "We could hardly provide vaccines how much more using the lethal injection which is very expensive," Asis said. Educating people is better Asis said gas poisoning is cheaper because they only have to use vehicle exhaust. "We have gasoline supply for the vehicles so we opted to use gas poisoning because we don't have to spend for gas anymore," Asis said. Consunji said Section 6 of AWA states that killings of dogs, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles shall be done through humane procedures at all times. She suggested that, in order to lessen stray dogs in the city, the CVO should conduct massive campaign on responsible pet ownership because it still works. Consunji said that public awareness of rabies in the country is poor and that dog owners are not taking advantage of the offer of subsidized vaccines. She believed rabies could be controlled if only local government units allot a bigger budget to provide free vaccines for all pets in high-risk areas. She also said that rabies could proliferate, if the LGUs allow the dog meat trade to exist. "Rabies happens when we don't educate the public on how to avoid it. It is preventable through vaccination," said Consunji. - GMANews.TV