It's a (horrible) dog's life
for Manila's strays
July 08, 2005
Updated
00:17am (Mla time)
Tina G. Santos
Inquirer
News Service
HORRIBLE.
This was how members of the
Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) described
the method being considered by the city government
of Manila to get rid of stray dogs.
As of yesterday, more than a
hundred dogs at the city pound were killed through
electrocution.
Emil Rabano, a volunteer of
PAWS who documented the procedure, said city pound
personnel would pull a dog from a cage with a long
steel pole with a rope at the end.
"A dog is dragged, almost
suffocating, to the electrocution chamber," he
said. "The dog is literally sandwiched between the
metal cage and steel roof. Electricity is then
released, passing through the roof and then
transmitted to the dog."
The dead dogs are then put on
a big weighing scale, one on top of the other. In
batches of 10, their stomachs are slit while the
veterinarian injects enzymes into them, he
added.
"The dogs were really treated
brutally. Vets use about 300 to 500 volts of
electricity per three seconds in the process,"
Rabano said.
But according to Dr. Manuel
Socorro of the city's Veterinary Inspection Bureau
(VIB), the procedure was just part of an
experiment to find a less expensive method than
lethal injection, which costs the city government
about P250 per dog.
Dogs that were mostly sick,
emaciated and afflicted with mange, and left
unclaimed by their owners were usually put to
sleep through lethal injection, he said, adding
that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had given
them the go signal to proceed with the
study.
"The BAI gave us a year to
conduct the experiment. We started about two
months ago. We still have to submit the results to
the BAI for deliberation," Socorro said. About 30
more dogs are scheduled to undergo the same method
until next month.
Mayor Lito Atienza said he was
not aware that there was such a study being
conducted by the VIB.
However, he admitted that it
was the city's policy "to put them (unclaimed
dogs) to sleep."
"But there are other civilized
ways to do it, definitely not through
electrocution. I will not allow it," he
said.
Atienza added that he had
asked Dr. Jose Diaz, the city veterinarian, to
explain the matter. An investigation could follow,
if necessary, he said.
Meanwhile, PAWS officials said
they intend to give a letter expressing their
concern to city officials of Manila.
"Experiments are allowed, but
animals should not suffer unnecessary pain," said
Ramona Consunji, one of the directors of
PAWS.
"It may be legal because it
was allowed by the BAI, but it does not make it
less unethical, immoral and inhumane," she added.
"These barbaric practices simply are not allowed
in civilized societies such as ours."
"Electrocution is the second
most commonly used method that had been already
banned to get rid of unclaimed dogs, next to
poisoning. We're going one step backwards," said
Anna Cabrera, another PAWS director.
Cabrera even cited the recent
"Dog Walk For a Cause (Luv ko c Bantay)" campaign
where thousands of dogs and their owners took to
the streets to protest the senseless cruelty and
indiscriminate slaughter of dogs.
"It's embarrassing. The city
that launched a dog walk to fight animal cruelty
is now killing dogs," Cabrera added.
