EDITORIAL - Animal cruelty

Following heavy flooding in Metro Manila recently, netizens were horrified to find out that some dogs drowned after their owners kept them caged or chained down even as the waters rose around them. Even more distressing was the fact that employees of the San Juan City Pound abandoned their animals at the height of the floods, resulting in the death of eight cats.

Here in Cebu, at least allegedly in Cebu, we see the video of a snake owner feeding puppies to his snakes. According to a social media post, the snake owner allegedly got the puppies after offering to adopt them.

It’s sad that some humans act more like animals than animals themselves. But then again it might actually be an insult to compare those humans to animals.

While they may not approximate human lives, animals are still living, breathing beings, capable of emotion and even affection. They learn to love human companionship, they feel pain when they get injured or sick, they feel sad when they are abandoned or neglected, and they can also feel terror when they are placed in danger.

This is something some of us still just don’t understand or don’t really care about.

The good news is that we have come far as a nation when it comes to taking care of our animals. Just look online and you will see no shortage of people bragging about their pets, rescuing animals in distress or off the street, or advocating for animal welfare.

However, the bad news is that many of us still have much to learn when it comes to treating animals.

Unlike some animal lovers out there, we are not calling for those responsible --or perhaps we should say irresponsible-- to be chained or caged then drowned, or fed to a python, but there must be action taken against those who abuse or are cruel to animals.