Say no to a cruel, cruel world

It’s been a month since I rescued a pus-pin (pusang Pinoy), whom we fondly call Pepsi.

I found Pepsi on one of my early morning runs in the village where I live. She was about to cross the busy street near ULTRA.

Not a good idea I thought to myself, as she is just a little kitten.

I picked her up and took her home.

I live with five doggie companions (Nik, Gorby, Tasha, Cola and Yuri) and now we have Pepsi.

Although Pepsi is scared of the “big” doggies at home — she is very much at home with the humans in the house.

It’s funny how a pet — dog, cat, rabbit, turtle, snake or whatever else one might think of owning — brings out the nurturing side of a person.

I guess, what I am trying to say is that I can’t understand how anyone can treat an animal cruelly. It just blows my mind. Believe me I understand it when people tell me that they are not “animal” people or that they can’t have pets because they have allergies or they never grew up with pets. But, I will never understand treating an animal cruelly.

* * *

I got an e-mail from Caroline Wong of Bacolod. Caroline writes about the cruelty that she says has been happening to the animals at the Bacolod City Pound.

Time for shots: Over a hundred humans and their pets joined the World Rabies Day event of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) recently.

Here’s an excerpt from Caroline’s e-mail:

“I cannot sleep as I am haunted by the eyes of the yellow dog that died today, her eyes were so tired and pained, her legs had holes and maggots were already feasting on them while she was still alive. She was a beautiful dog with a domed rounded forehead and drop ears. She died of severe anemia and dehydration.

“I wonder if I brought her to the vet a day earlier, would blood transfusion have saved her?

“I feel so guilty I cannot sleep.

“Life is so frail so fragile, the picture of her last night at the vet haunts me.

“I really feel horrible, I went into this as a spur of moment thing, I tried to rescue everything.

* * *

Caroline also shares in her e-mail about her experience at the Bacolod City Pound. She went to the pound to do a few interviews for her college paper. And here’s what she discovered.

“An elderly male tells me there are more than 500 dogs buried in the grassy plots,” writes Caroline. “He also shares the gory tales of execution (of the dogs) by bashing with steel pipes. Suddenly he clams up, asks me if I’m a reporter and says he better not speak as it may create trouble as it had in the past.”

When Caroline went back to the pound to speak with administrator Rey Demisana, she says Demisana denied the bashing with steel pipes.

Caroline shares that the pound is very filthy.

The dogs are very hungry and greedily eat and drink as if it’s the first time they saw food and water.

Caroline is very angry about the situation and informs Demisana that she will adopt all the dogs in the pound. Demisana did not reply to Caroline’s request.

After six hours of negotiations Caroline was able to get all the dogs including the pups.

She found a place for them to stay — it is a vacant lot with a fence, it is very small. Her friends from Green Alert Negros, an environmentalist group, was one of the few group of true friends who assisted her in her endeavor.

* * *

Caroline’s story is a sad one.

I was told by Anna Cabrera of The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) that she has already spoken with the Bacolod City dog pound administrator.

I ask the Bacolod City pound to please, please stop the cruelty.

* * *

PAWS recently celebrated World Rabies Day by visiting a poor community in Batasan Hills, Commonwealth, Quezon City and conducting a free rabies vaccination drive.

The PAWS vets who participated in the event were Dr. Wilford Almoro, Dr. Aris Hapatinga, Dr. Tabby Dans and Dr. Maripi Diaz.

There were about 120 slots/rabies vaccines prepared, but some of the dogs were too young or unhealthy, so only 107 were vaccinated (majority were Aspins). There were also 23 pups that were given free deworming.

PAWS has a tie up for free rabies vaccine and free neuter and spaying in Lipa City. PAWS joined the city vet of Lipa in their Rabies Awareness Week celebration by conducting free spay-neuter, recently.