In 1998, The Philippine government passed the Animal Welfare Act which safeguards all animals in the country. The law protects all animals, but its greatest beneficiaries are the stray dogs that end up in the brutal and barbaric dogmeat trade. Hundreds of them are captured or bought cheaply from impoverished owners. Then, they are crudely slaughtered ( their throats slit or they are bludgeoned to death with a blunt object ) for consumption usually by drink-loving men who equate dogmeat and alcohol with the best of times. An odd sense of Machismo comes into play here.These same men feel the need to prove their manhood not by performing some kind of civic duty, but by slaughtering helpless and trusting strays. How manly is that? Are the strays truly protected by the law at all? Passing laws is one thing, enforcing them is another. Although there have been some rescues and interdictions by law enforcement officials, more need to be done. Enforcement is where the law turns into a toothless, paper tiger. Consider the following update from It's their Destiny (ITD) : Dog meat bribe to voters by Filipino politicians
Dear Friends
Many of us outside the Philippines find it difficult to understand how dog eating can be so widespread when it is clearly illegal under that country's existing legislation. We agree that tougher laws are needed, but what is far more urgent is a willingness to enforce them. Currently any such will is blatantly lacking.
The following article dated October 18 was taken from www.news.balita.ph. A "barangay" is a small electoral district, similar to a local council.
Why are dogs against barangay elections?
Eleksyon 2007 If dogs can talk, they would have called for the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections set on October 29 to save their skin.
The reason is that many of the dogs have already ended in the frying pan ever since the prospective candidates made their rounds in their respective barangays long before the campaign period started.
Dogs know that in every barangay election, many of their own kind end up as gourmet delight to please unappreciative voters.
It appears that despite the ban on the slaughter of dogs, the butchering of dogs continues, and much more often during village elections.
This is because of the penchant of candidates to give in to what most barangay folks and drinkers prefer most which is dog meat.
In Dagupan, it was reported that not many astray dogs roaming the streets may have already been caught and sold to candidates who usually make them into finger food or "pulutan" to prove friendship and manhood.
This prompted radio commentator in a morning program in Dagupan to call on the public not to unleash their dogs at night as they may end up in the noose laid by dognappers suspected to be supplying live dogs to barangay poll bets.
ITD's ongoing campaign against dog eating in the Philippines can be found at http://itstheirdestiny.2kat.net/phil.html
Our continued thanks for your support and for caring enough to want to make a difference.
From all the team at ITD
Comments