|
Dear
Friends
The following report is
from the November 11,
2005 issue of the Philippine Daily
Inquirer.
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet-Officials
here are supporting moves to amend a national
law on animal welfare, to allow some practices
of indigenous communities
involving
animals.
The review of the 1998 Animal
Welfare Act (Republic Act 8485), they said,
could include the possibility of recognizing
the sale of dog meat in
eateries and
restaurants as legitimate business provided it is
done in the
Cordillera.
The Benguet
provincial board this week passed a resolution
reminding the
Department of Agriculture and
law enforcement agencies that the rights of
indigenous peoples to butcher animals for
ritual practices have been
incorporated in RA
8485.
But the board said these rights were
often violated by lawmen who, in the
past,
would raid eateries selling dog meat without
coordinating with the
proper
agencies.
In the resolution, the board
members said the native practice of killing
animals in the Cordillera has, to a certain
extent, become commercialized
and "has become
an inevitable common necessity in the people's way
of life."
However, local establishments
selling dog meat are often raided despite
their compliance with the requirements of RA
8485, the resolution said.
"These raids
effectively undermine the local economy while
denying the
people of their age-old
practices," it said.
In September, members
of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group
(CIDG) raided the Comiles Eatery here and
seized 44 dogs and an undetermined
quantity of
dog meat.
"We believe that the raid was
improper because it was done without
coordinating with the proper authorities,"
Board Member Liso Agpas, a
lawyer,
said.
He said under RA 8485, the CIDG
should have first coordinated with the DA's
animal welfare committee before conducting the
raid.
"Lawmen could not just confiscate dog
meat or raid establishments in the
guise of
implementing the animal welfare law," Agpas
said.
Board Member Sario Copas said the
sale of dog meat is not at all surprising
when
done in eateries operating in the
Cordillera.
"The commercialization is
understood to be an offshoot of our cultural
practices," he said.
Throughout its seven
year history the Animal Welfare Act
(1998) has been blatantly disregarded. Now
the animal abusers are trying to effectively have
it overturned in the name of "cultural practices."
How much suffering must innocent animals be forced
to endure whilst criminals are allowed to ignore
the rule of law? These dogs have jagged tins
rammed over their jaws and their front legs
dislocated and tied behind their backs with wire
to make them easier to handle at markets. The
photos will bring tears to your eyes, but PLEASE
HELP these defenseless
animals.
On our website
(http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net/phil.html) you
can find full details of ITD's ongoing campaign
for the enforcement of the Philippines Animal
Welfare Act, together with the Act itself, email
addresses of senior Govt ministers, and a sample
protest email.
Our continued thanks for your
support and for caring enough to want to make
a difference.
From all the team at
ITD
If not through another list, you will have
received this email because you either have helped
with a campaign or requested to receive these
emails in the past. We have no wish to send
"spam", so if you do not want to receive similar
news items from us , just send a blank email to
itd@2kat.net with
subject line "Unsubscribe".
Our updates are sent as html - if you
receive in simple text through another list and
would like to receive in the original format,
email itd@2kat.net with
subject line "Subscribe". |
