“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures. – His Holiness The Dalai Lama
The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor, “Can they talk?” but rather, “Can they suffer?” – Jeremy Bentham
“Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence, they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals. . . . It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church
The idea that some lives are less valuable than the others must be one of the worst beliefs that most people have.
Every life, no matter how small it is, is revered and valued by every Pagan. But regardless of which religion or faith you have, we should know that people are given the responsibility by God or Goddess or Supreme Power, to take care of the animals, not to abuse and neglect them.
Dogs, in particular, are the epitome of loyalty and unconditional love. It is heart-wrenching to see them being abused, neglected, murdered and tortured.
Our journey to saving dogs from the Lapulapu City Pound started in 2012 when I saw a post on the Facebook page of Island Rescue Organization about two dogs being trapped in the house by a heartless owner without food or water. One didn’t make it, while the other was saved. We immediately went to the pound to visit “Agua”, the name they had given her. We said hi to Agua and she wagged her tail with all her might.
It didn’t escape from our eyes the six dogs crowded in one cage and another sickly one in a separate cage. I asked the person from the pound if those were also rescued dogs. He replied in a matter of factly manner that they were surrendered dogs by their owners to be terminated using gas chamber in the pound on Friday that week.
We later learned that all dogs surrendered by the owners or stray dogs that were caught by the pound will be terminated every Friday. They were not fed, nor were they given water. We asked why they were doing it, and the people from the pound just answered, ” that is the regulation”.
Are we really those uncivilized and heartless beings to have this kind of regulation?
Saving Agua was not enough, no one should be left behind. From then on, we decided to save the rest of the dogs, to look for loving homes that can provide them warmth and love that they deserve and to treat the sickly ones. We frantically sent messages to all our friends who were interested to adopt or foster the dogs. Some didn’t bother to reply, while others offered help.
Our journey has just started. Even if we’d find new homes for a few dogs every month, dozens are being sent to the pound. We cannot keep up with the number of dogs being impounded. Some dogs are in the worst state of health needing immediate care and may transmit a disease. Aside from this, the people from the pound said that they don’t have a budget for the food for the dogs and they can only let them stay in the pound for a maximum of five days. After five days, either we should take the dogs out from the pound or they will kill them using the gas chamber. That was in 2012 and was illegal according to the Philippines Animal Welfare Act RA 8485 of 1998 as amended by RA 10631 and our efforts may have helped that now more humane lethal injections are used.
We would appreciate any help that you can extend to these poor souls, either through monetary means, offering to visit and feed the dogs in the pound, fostering or adopting them. Any kind of help is welcome.
Ever mind the rule of three, what you give will come back in three-fold.
Written by:
Joene Omega
Independent Dog Rescue Volunteer
PFI Philippines Team Member
To contact Joene & Joey:
Email Address: joeneleneomega@gmail.com
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