Cebu City Council wants butchers to be less cruel

To be consistent in their declaration of war against cruelty to animals, city officials want a stop in the practice of oral forced drenching of animals that are about to be slaughtered.

Oral forced drenching, known as tingal in Cebuano, refers to the act of forcing water through the mouth of an animal for slaughter to increase its body weight, resulting to bloating and eventual suffocation.

The City Council committee on laws, ordinances, public accountability and good government is endorsing a proposed ordinance to amend some provisions in the city's existing rules and regulations governing the activities of butchers and helpers in the slaughtering of animals.

Councilor Edgardo Labella, who sits as chairman of the committee, said the ordinance intends to put a stop to cruel ways of slaughtering animals.

"We are in an era of heightened awareness on environmental concerns, ecological balance, wildlife preservation and animal welfare," Labella said in his two-page report submitted to the council last Wednesday.

The ordinance, authored by committee chairman on market and abattoir Christopher Alix, seeks to penalize and stop the practice of oral forced drenching in slaughtering animals in the city abattoir.

"This is a form of cruelty and is against the law," said Alix citing Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Law of 1998 which prohibits and penalizes cruel forms of slaughtering animals, one of which is oral forced drenching.

Alix incorporated in his proposed measure the punishable acts, including the bringing in of bloated slaughtered animals, display of overhead plastic water containers used to force water into the mouth of the animal, and placing hose or tube into the mouth of the animal.

Penalties for violators are the confiscation of butchers' and helpers' identification cards issued by the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries for first offense, and ban from entering the premises of the abattoir and indictment in court for the second and third offenses, respectively.

"The ongoing practice of torturing animals for commercial purposes to increase profit makes the ordinance appropriate and timely," Labella said in his recommendation. However, a public hearing should be conducted on the penal provisions so that views of various stakeholders regarding the measures will be heard, Labella said. - Garry B. Lao