I really didn’t have the heart to look at the pictures that our photographer par excellence, Bernard Testa, had been sharing with the Interaksyon.com team through Blackberry Messenger. I don’t want to see abused dogs, animals at the brink of death, suffering animals that had done nothing wrong to deserve such cruel treatment from humans.

I told Abigail Kwok, my fellow reporter who wrote about the rescued pitbulls that I am interested to adopt one dog. If I were rich, I want to adopt as many as I could. But I am just a reporter on a journalist’s salary.

Pitbull fighting for its life. Photo by Bernard Testa, Interaksyon.com

70 dogs rescued from Laguna pit bull ring to be put down

03-Apr-12, 12:28 AM | Abigail Kwok, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines—At least 70 pit bulls subjected to inhumane treatment in a dogfighting arena will be put down Tuesday, as animal welfare groups struggled to find appropriate housing and shelter for the abused dogs.

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) disclosed that out of the 246 rescued pit bulls and pit bull mixes from a South Korean syndicate, only a maximum of 50 will be adopted by a private citizen.
The rest will be put down in batches and the first batch, about 70 of them, will be put down Tuesday.

PAWS program director Anna Cabrera said in a phone interview that there is no available shelter big enough to handle these dogs and provide them with food, water and therapy.

She added that subjecting these dogs to euthanasia will be humane and will save the dogs from the risk of being “recycled” into the arena again…

Continue reading here.

Yes, we have laws on animal cruelty and such but these do not have teeth and—as usual—enforcement of these laws are the main problems. My colleague Lira Dalangin-Fernandez tackled this issue, which may have been the main cause as to why these  dog fighting rings continue to operate in this country.

Photo by Bernard Testa, Interaksyon.com

Happy ending in ‘101 Dalmatians’ not a reality in the Philippines due to largely unenforced law

03-Apr-12, 7:30 AM | Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com

“MANILA, Philippines – In 101 Dalmatians, police rescued the dogs and had villainess Cruella de Vil pay for her evil deeds. The movie’s happy ending for the canines, however, doesn’t mirror the reality in the country. It’s because like other Philippine laws that are only good on paper, the 14-year-old Republic Act 9842 or the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) lacks enforcement, according to animal rights advocates.

Anna Cabrera, executive director of the the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), says that despite AWA, the care and rescue of animals are not among the government’s priority. 

Cabrera observes that many cities in the country do not have veterinarians or personnel in charge of animal welfare. And while there maybe growing concern on animal cruelty, people have very little awareness on programs and procedures that promote pet care, according to the PAWS chief…”
Read more here.

And on and on and on…

It really breaks my heart.