Pitbulls are pets, too
It was the biggest dogfight raid ever conducted with 252 live Pitbulls rescued. This is more than those rescued from the sensational Michael Vick case in the US.
So far, about 10 of the rescued Pitbulls from Cavite have been transferred to the animal shelter of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). PAWS and the Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) are working closely on ways to transfer the rest of the dogs.
What has the animal rights groups up in arms is that the dogfight ring has a permit signed by Dr. Angel Mateo of the Bureau of Animal Industry-Animal Welfare Division (BAI-AWD).
In the permit, which was obtained by Luis Buenaflor of AKF, it is stated that the Koreans who run the dogfight ring applied for a permit for a dog farm.
One wonders if Mateo even bothered to check out whether the facility would be used for what it was created — obviously not. Also, dog farming is illegal in the Philippines. Dog farming would mean raising dogs so that their meat can be eventually sold for food.
The dogfight ring Shouldn’t this have bothered Mateo?
It seems that Mateo either did not inspect the facility or give much thought to granting that permit.
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I know for a fact that BAI-AWD has not renewed PAWS’ application for a permit because it wants to conduct a water test of their facilities. I am told that the water comes from Manila Water.
One wonders why animal welfare groups have such a hard time getting permits from BAI-AWD. And, yet, there are dolphin shows and dogfight rings, which seem to have an easy time getting their permits.
Tragic!
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Buy a card save a pet: The donations card from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society On a lighter note, if you are looking for a worthwhile Christmas gift you might consider getting one from PAWS. There are mugs at (P120), Christmas cards (P50), a donation card costs P200 and wall clocks are priced at P550.
PAWS volunteers can deliver to buyers anywhere in Metro Manila for orders worth at least P3,000. For orders, e-mail philpaws@yahoo.com.
