MY daughter was watching the Oprah Winfrey show the other day, and the topic was amazing accounts of survival. One of the stories, which she told me later that day, was about a Rottweiler dog assigned to a woman afflicted with epilepsy, and was trained to sense changes in her master's body to alert the master about a coming seizure. On one particular night, the dog would not allow her master to go to sleep, and kept the woman awake by walking around in circles on the bed. Unable to sleep, the woman went to the kitchen to get water when she suddenly had a seizure and fell, hitting her head on the cupboard. The dog, seeing that her master was lying on the floor, first got the cordless telephone and put it in the woman's hands. After realizing that her master was unconscious, the dog pressed the phone's speed dial for 911 with her nose, and promptly started barking into the receiver. The operator who received the unusual call fortunately decided to trace it anyway and sent an emergency team to the address. If that wasn't unbelievable enough, the dog then unlocked the door and went to lie down next to her master until the paramedics came. The woman was brought to the hospital and was successfully revived, and she came out fine with only a small bump on her forehead. Every day she thanks her "guardian angel," the Rottweiler, for saving her life.

There are many more stories of dogs and other household pets that have helped their masters, and although not all of them are as amazing as the one above, it still shows that our furry or feathery friends can be very lovable, not just for being cute. I, myself, am a sucker for pets, and when my day is almost over, I eagerly look forward to going home just to embrace and hug my two Shih Tzu dogs, Sushi and Goggie. Although I sometimes feel that it is them who have managed to train ME to do their bidding, my pets have a way of making me feel unconditionally loved and adored. I actually once saw a tabloid picture of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, kneeling down on the floor to give her little Corgis pup a treat, and that made me feel a little better about spoiling my own pets; if the Queen can do it, then so can I!

Unfortunately, not all animals are treated as well. There are sad situations that range from the forgotten pet cat exposed to rain on the streets, to the more serious ones where dogs are captured and mercilessly slaughtered as a delicacy. To address this, the State passed a law on Feb. 11, 1998, Republic Act 8485, otherwise known as "THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT OF 1998," which hopes to "to protect and promote the welfare of all animals in the Philippines by supervising and regulating the establishment and operations of all facilities utilized for breeding, maintaining, keeping, treating or training of all animals either as objects of trade or as household pets." This law creates a Committee on Animal Welfare, which is attached to the Department of Agriculture, to issue the necessary implementing rules and regulations and to oversee the setting of safety and sanitary standards for the facilities for maintenance and transport of all animals. Section 6 of the said law also provides that:

"It shall be unlawful for any person to torture any animal, to neglect to provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animal or to subject any dog or horse to dogfights or horsefights, kill or cause or procure to be tortured or deprived of adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat or use the same in research or experiments not expressly authorized by the Committee on Animal Welfare.

"The killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles is likewise hereby declared unlawful..."

The law provides limited circumstances wherein killing of animals not enumerated above may be allowed, such as when the pet animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease, or when it is done to prevent imminent danger to the life and limb of a human being. And only humane methods are allowed under the law for these circumstances. Notably, Section 7 of the law also provides that: "It shall be the duty of every person to protect the natural habitat of the wildlife. The destruction of said habitat shall be considered as a form of cruelty to animals and its preservation is a way of protecting the animals." So that includes protecting the natural environment of these animals as well. For now, violations of this law are punishable by imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than two years or a fine of not less than P1,000 nor more than P5,000 or both at the discretion of the court.

If the violation is committed by a juridical person, a corporation, that is, the officer responsible for the act shall serve the imprisonment when imposed. If the violation is committed by an alien, he or she shall be immediately deported after service of sentence without any further proceedings. To improve on the law, there is currently a proposal, House Bill 2991, to increase the penalty to imprisonment of not less than ONE YEAR nor more than FOUR years AND a fine of not less than P5,000 nor more than P10,000.

The rationale behind the bill is that most people arrested under RA 8485 are habitual offenders, and that the current penalty is too meager to serve as an effective deterrent. Rep. Francis Escudero, who introduced the said bill, also mentioned that "Some accused have been heard to admit that what they are made to pay by way of fine is often less than the standard bribe they give to policemen who pull them over with their hot cargo" consisting of dog meat or the like.

While the Philippines was largely praised when the law was enacted for being one of the few Asian countries to have progressive laws to protect animals from cruelty and abuse, it appears to me that this is still an inutile and ineffective law. Try as I might, I could not find any implementing rules and regulations to enforce the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act. Also, the law itself does not provide for a budget for the creation of the Committee on Animal Welfare, so how can such a committee be realistically formed and operated, with competent persons manning it? Some organizations such as the Philippine Animal Welfare Society or PAWS, and the Animal Welfare Group of UP Los Baños are pushing for better and actual implementation of this law.

Right now, PAWS is calling for a petition and a letter writing campaign to certain government officials, such as the Baguio City Veterinarian and provincial governor to prevent the legalization of the "Dog Meat Trade" in the Benguet province. The people behind this proposal to legalize the dog meat industry argue that it is part of the province's tradition and culture, so they are only trying to preserve it. I say to this, some African tribes practice cannibalism as part of their tradition and culture, but we don't see THAT being legalized, do we? While I am all for protecting our national heritage, I also believe that it is time to adjust and adapt to the modern and more humane norms of society. Traditional practices, if it involves abuse and cruelty to innocent and defenseless animals, should be dropped if we wish to set ourselves apart as humane members of society.

To completely protect the rights and welfare of our animals, legislature has to come up with effective solutions to address the deficiencies in the law. Otherwise, our pet animals may have to think twice before they help us the next time we need it.

courtesy of Atty. Rita Linda Jimeno
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