New laws and new hope
for Philippines' dogs

ON Sunday March 9, 2008 Elly Maynard, chairperson and founder of Sirius Global Animal Organisation, travelled to the Philippines to meet various Government ministers and other officials to discuss the submission presented last year to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). These meetings were extremely productive and fruitful, and combined with the positive things now happening for dogs in the Philippines, the outlook is a whole lot happier.

The trip was organised by Luis Buenaflor, external affairs officer, Animal Kingdom Foundation, Philippines. The Animal Kingdom Foundation is the major organisation in the Philippines actively working with the Government and Police on having dogs removed from the human food chain. Elly had the opportunity of travelling to Capas, Tarlac, three hours' drive from Manila, to visit the Foundation's rescue centre. There are 300 dogs housed there, all rescued from the illegal dog meat traders.

The Centre is impressive to say the least and considering the small number of staff members and the fact that they rely on charitable donations, their efforts are outstanding. After tip-offs, Police road blocks are set up and accompanied by Animal Kingdom Foundation staff, the illegal trucks with their loads of dogs crammed into unbelievable conditions, noses tightly bound with chicken wire, tin cans etc, are stopped. The illegal traders are arrested and the dogs transferred to Foundation vehicles for transfer to the Centre in Tarlac. The state of the dogs at this stage is beyond words.

Once at the Centre, any injured dog is immediately seen by the veterinarians who work there. The dogs are then left to settle in the wide, spacious sheltered pens for a couple of days. Bathing, grooming, nail clipping etc then takes place and all the animals are de-sexed. They all receive full veterinary checks and are fully vaccinated. The World Health Organisation supplies free rabies vaccines to the Philippines, which has had serious problems with the disease.

These dogs are undergoing rehabilitation at The Animal Kingdom Foundation's shelter and will soon be available for adoption to suitable, approved families.

Mango trees line both sides of the rows of pens. There is no overcrowding and dogs are placed in each area according to temperament. The dogs suitable for adoption are placed in one, those undergoing rehabilitation in another and those who will never be adopted but will live their whole lives at the Centre in love and safety, in others. These are not bad breed dogs, but dogs who, no matter what breed, have been hugely traumatised by their treatment and may never fully trust humans again.

Elly's message to everyone is: "Please see the Animal Kingdom Foundation web site at www.animalkingdomfoundation.org, it is definitely worth a visit. I would like to ask anyone who wishes to donate towards animals to make Animal Kingdom Foundation a recipient of your funds. They are doing something totally positive and their dedication is exemplary. "Having fought against dogs being in the human food chain for many years and now to have seen the work being undertaken by the Animal Kingdom Foundation in rescuing the dogs from this trade and their new life, I totally recommend sponsorship of them," she said.

New law passed
Few would deny that dog eating is rife in the Philippines, although its Government appears to be committed to eradicating the practice. On Tuesday 25th March 2008, a new law was passed which now imposes a penalty of 5000 pesos (£UK60) fine per dog and a mandatory minimum prison term of one year, or up to four years' imprisonment for anyone caught transporting dogs for slaughter or killing them. This is a huge improvement on the derisory £UK20 fine per conviction which existed prior to this legislation. The average Philippines family income for 2006 was 172,000 pesos (£UK2085) - source: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/stats/statwatch.asp.

Having visited the Philippines and spoken personally with members of the Government, Senate, and the Provincial Governor of Iliolo, Elly Maynard is convinced of their sincerity in wanting to stamp out the human consumption of dogs in that country. Things will not be fixed overnight, but while the Philippines Government continues to work closely with the Animal Kingdom Foundation they have to be congratulated for wanting to come into the 21st Century. It is a shame that countries such as Korea and China are not prepared to follow suit! Government-approved Police raids are carried out ruthlessly on the illegal dog traders and the rescued dogs are taken to the Animal Kingdom Foundation Centre which, as of March 2008, houses 300 dogs.

These dogs have been nursed back to good health and are fully vaccinated and thus free from any disease and available for adoption. Those who cannot be homed because of the trauma they have experienced at the hands of the illegal dog traders will remain at the Centre in safety for the rest of their lives. The World Health Organisation supplies rabies vaccine free and this is fully utilised and very much appreciated. The photos and media reports with this article will remain on the Sirius website as a reminder to the Philippines Government that the world is watching and as a reminder to us all that incidents like these are not yet history.