HOW
VERY ironic that the body tasked to enforce the provisions of the
Animal Welfare Act of 1998 (AWA, which is the Filipino word for “pity”),
a law that mandates the humane treatment of all animals, is now
advocating a very cruel method of killing stray dogs, commonly referred
to as “askals” or “asong kalye.” (The correct name for Philippine dogs
is “aspin,” for asong Pinoy, which is recognized and registered in the
International Canine Society.) This body is the Committee on Animal
Welfare (CAW), composed of representatives from government and private
agencies and organizations concerned with animals. It is supervised by
the Department of Agriculture through the Bureau of Animal Industry.
These institutions are: the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association,
Veterinary Practitioners Association of the Philippines, Philippine
Animal Hospital Association, Philippine College of Canine Practitioners,
Philippine Society of Animal Science, Department of Interior and Local
Government, Department of Education, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau
of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Meat
Inspection Service, Philippine Society of Swine Practitioners,
Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and Philippine Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPC). Dr. Enrique Carlos is CAW
chairman.
Recently, CAW met to discuss how best to get rid of unwanted stray
dogs. The method of execution proposed was by gassing, or what is called
“tambucho gassing.” Dogs are kept in a small closed box, the tailpipe
(the tambucho) of a jeepney is inserted in a small opening, and the
jeepney’s engine started. The exhaust fumes of the engine enters the box
and asphyxiates the dogs.
It is the carbon monoxide that kills the dogs. Carbon monoxide is an
odorless, tasteless, colorless but poisonous gas, so death is supposed
to be painless. But that is not what happens to the dogs. The exhaust
from the jeepney’s engine is full of smoke and carbon particles, the
same as what you see spewing from the tailpipes of diesel-run buses and
trucks. The black toxic fumes slowly choke the dogs. They gag, they
wretch, they vomit, they cannot breathe. They twitch and roll, they
involuntarily defecate. They claw the walls frantically, they cry for
help, they desperately search for a safe corner. But there is no safe
corner. It is a very painful and cruel death.
That is supposed to be euthanasia, a merciful death? No, it is not. It is torture.
The representatives of PAWS and SPCA in CAW voted against tambucho gassing.
The merciful way to euthanize a dog is to put it to sleep by
injecting it with the drug Euthal, or sodium pentobarbital. It costs
only P200 (roughly $4) to euthanize a medium to large-sized dog—less if
you buy the drug wholesale. Less Euthal is needed if the condemned dog
is small or medium-sized, which most aspins are. That’s not too much to
give man’s best friend a painless and merciful death.
CAW obviously thinks that is too much.
But in the first place, why should cost be a factor in the
determination of what is a humane death? Cost should not redefine
cruelty as compassion.
The humane and correct way to solve the problem of stray dogs is not
to kill them but to educate and discipline pet owners through effective
laws. And to have animal shelters instead of city pounds that only catch
stray animals and put them to death. Animal shelters take care of
unwanted animals and put them up for adoption by responsible families.
They give free advice to pet owners. They give cheap or free veterinary
service. They sterilize pets so that they don’t multiply
indiscriminately. CARA, another animal welfare organization, sterilizes
stray dogs and cats for free and then lets them loose again. That way,
although they remain strays, they do not multiply. Local government
units should do likewise.
Many pet owners (you will be surprised to learn that many of them are
educated and live in upscale villages) are too stingy to spend a few
pesos to have their dogs and cats sterilized, and when they give birth
to litters, they tell their house help to throw the kittens and puppies
in parks, empty lots and sidewalks. These throwaways become the strays.
Other homeowners take home cute puppies and kittens, but when these
become adults and are no longer cute, they turn them out into the
streets. These are the pet owners that the government should discipline.
It is sad that government-run city pounds and barangays are the ones
that abet the blackmarket in dog meat. Employees of city pounds and some
barangay officials sell captured dogs to dog traders who ship them
alive but cramped in very small cages to the provinces, usually to
Baguio and nearby provinces, where “asocena” or dog meat, is a favorite
dish. Thus, the dogs suffer during the long trips before they are put to
death very cruelly—by being clubbed at the base of the head.
Back to tambucho gassing. Thousands of animal lovers, spearheaded by
PAWS, has forwarded a petition to Agriculture Secretary Proceso J.
Alcala to rescind the CAW administrative order legitimizing this very
cruel form of “euthanasia.” Tambucho gassing is without doubt a form of
abject animal cruelty. It has no place in any civilized country which, I
would like to think, the Philippines still is. It will give us a
blackeye in the international community. The Philippine image will be
that of a primitive and very cruel nation.
Get your animal welfare news fix here. Dog meat trade must end. Dog rescue is a must. Animal cruelty is wicked.
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Get your animal welfare news fix here.
Dog meat trade must end.
Dog rescue is a must.
Animal cruelty is wicked.