Life's the pits for these Pitbulls

MANILA, Philippines - She was the first one I saw and my heart stopped. She walked up to me, head bent, tail wagging, smelling. She put her head in my hand and tried to tell me her story.

These images were taken in a dog fighting facility in San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines, just three days after it was raided. These images were not altered, the subjects were not arranged. These photographs represent the truth.

 I will only give you the facts. It will be enough to show you that something very wrong is happening, that it will not stop — not until those who can make it stop do the right thing. You will read and you will see and you will be part of the chain of hope that will lead to a real and lasting solution.

On March 31, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society team (PAWS) was in San Pablo, Laguna, documenting and assessing an estimated 266 dogs in a dogfight facility raided by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) last March 30.

The facility is reported to be operated by the same Korean nationals caught also running a dog fighting facility last Dec. 3, 2011 in Indang, Cavite. After posting bail, these same criminals took only two months after their arrest to get back into their illegal operations in a facility that was even bigger than their original one. There were only 18 weeks between both raids. These Korean nationals were identified as Lee Gwi Woo, 21; Jeong Yeon Hwal, 31; Noh Min Chul, 44; Lee Kyung Won, 31; Kim Young Hwan, 29; Hyun Ho Han, 45; Hong Jeong Oh, 43; and Kim Do Kyung, 41. Five of them, Noh Min Chul, Lee Gwi Woo, Lee Kyung Won, Kim Young Hwan and Jeong Yeon Hwal were among those arrested in the raid on a dog fight club in Cavite last December 2011.

 Actual dog fights were not viewed by audiences within the facility, instead they were projected live through Internet video streaming from an area referred to as the “Arena” located in Calauan, a town 30 minutes away by car from San Pablo. Large stakes and online betting was transacted through credit cards and Paypal.

Those are the facts, now here are the truths.

This facility with almost 300 dogs originally was not a secret. The community knew what it was. To find it, all I had to do was ask anyone in the streets, “Nasaan yung maraming aso?” and everyone knew what I was talking about and openly pointed the way. It was accessed from a paved road that ran through the community from the main national road. Everyone in the local community knew about the facility. All the Filipino caretakers, employees and the immediate neighborhood knew about the dog fights. The land was being leased from a Filipino veterinarian who treated the dogs. To date no Filipinos have been arrested.

Some 70 dogs from the December raid have found a home in a shelter in Cebu through the joint efforts of many generous people and shelter organizations. It was a miracle in itself. A miracle that shelter people believe will no longer be repeated for this batch of what is now over 224 dogs.

She was the first one I saw at the “Arena”(the dog fighting facility in Calauan, set up by Korean nationals) and my heart stopped. She put her head in my hand and tried to tell me her story.

 When you read the accounts from people like me who have come into personal contact with these rescued dogs, you will read statements like, “I was so surprised at how the dogs were so sweet, and trusting. Despite being disfigured from fighting and emaciated from being starved to fight, they walked up to me like trusting happy dogs.” It is the truth. But the responsible thing to do is not to have these dogs adopted-out to well meaning individuals. To keep them alive would mean to find them a sanctuary where they will be cared for, for the duration of their lives. A miracle that was managed once — but time is running out for these dogs until a miracle can happen again.

 The truth is that reading the facts it is impossible to prevent our country from being the new “Perfect Spot for Dog Fighting Facilities,” where proponents can be caught and be back in business in two months — if we just sit and do nothing.

 The world is changing. It’s changing for the worse when the dog fighting market has hit international proportions by using the Internet. It’s changing for the worse when whole communities live with something like this thinking it’s okay. You can make a difference by changing it for the good and giving these dogs a chance. Do it now.

For security reasons volunteers other than senior volunteers are not allowed to go to the dogs that are still being held in the raided facility under security supervision of CIDG. While financial help will go a long way, what we really need is a miracle. You might not know what you can do. But someone in your network will.

 I know it’s not pretty, I know it’s probably not what your personal blogs are all about, or it might not be the usual thing on your Facebook wall, but please use any part of this email to re-post on your blogs, to put up on your walls, to e-mail to your friends, to send to anyone and to any organization that you feel should just know about what is going on here in the Philippines.

PAWS has taken legal steps that you can also support by sending an email to your Congressmen now to support House 5849, filed by Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, which seeks to put longer prison terms and higher fines for animal offenders. You can request Sen. Kiko Pangilinan to file and sponsor the amendment of The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) in the Senate.

There was a plan to euthanize 70 Pitbulls today, April 1, because of lack of proper shelter that could be afforded to them by animal welfare NGOs. However, Island Rescue Organization (IRO-Cebu) came to Laguna to assess the Pitbulls to see what still could be done for them.

We hope that the government will help in providing care, shelter and security so the dogs don’t end up being stolen and recycled back into dog fighting for the third time. We have received reports from police that majority of the Laguna Pitbulls came from the dogs adopted out by the provincial vet in Cavite last December. They were adopted by Pinoys sent by Korean dog fight operators so that they can regroup and start somewhere else.

Count: 266 Pitbulls or Pitbull mixes (breakdown: 236 in the farm, 30 in the arena). Euthanized last March 31: 17 injured/medically assessed to be untreatable, one died on its own. Missing since April 1: five. Euthanized on April 4: 17. Died on their own within the last two days: three.

Total count of dogs alive on site is 225.

 Rather than risk having the dogs used for the next dog fighting ring, the remaining dogs will be humanely put to sleep before they will be turned over to the local government — unless we can find them a suitable shelter.

 If the same Koreans are let out on bail (again), history has shown that they will regroup fearlessly and set up another dog fighting ring. They need to stay in jail until the whole legal process is undertaken and when found guilty they need to be imprisoned for the full term of their sentence and then deported.

 Laws protecting animal rights need to be stricter and implemented more judiciously. More details on HB 5849 can be found in the PAWS website. It can no longer be taken lightly when international organized crime has established that the Philippines is a suitable place to conduct these illegal activities.

 Through the course of all this, I have heard so many people say, “hindi ko yan alam eh.” But now you know and you’ve seen. Talk to the people around you, make them aware. Not knowing is no longer a reason. Now you can do something about it too.

Effective April 4, and as requested by Nena Hernandez of Island Rescue Organization, PAWS turned over the custody of 225 Pitbulls rescued from the Laguna dog fight to IRO and CARA. 

All donations must be directed to the said organizations. Those who may have mistakenly sent donations to PAWS intended for the rehabilitation of the Laguna Pitbulls need only to e-mail PAWS at philpaws@yahoo.com and copy furnish irobullybreedlover@gmail.com  (IRO) and nadoan75@yahoo.com (CARA), requesting for their donations — indicate date, amount and mode of payment for donation — be remitted to IRO and CARA instead.

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The author Popi Laudico filed this story last April 4. The case is ongoing.