Kailan at Saan Nagsimula ang Pagkain ng Aso sa Pilipinas?

Batay sa mga nakasulat na tala, nagsimula ang pagkakatay ng aso sa Cordillera noong mga humigit-kumulang 8,000 taon na ang nakalilipas. Sa aklat ni Felix M. Keesing na Taming Philippine Headhunters, binanggit ito:

"Perhaps six to eight thousand years ago, according to Professor Beyer's estimate, there came by sea in canoes a folk to whom he gives the rather formal name "Type A Indonesian" (page 43) …The dog seems to be their only domesticated animal, and was apparently used &endash; as it is today &endash; for  religious sacrifices and ceremonial feastings (page 45).^[10]

Mula sa malayong nakalipas bago masakop ng Espanya ang Pilipinas, nag-aalaga din ang mga ninunong Malayo ng mga hayop para sa kanilang kapakinabangan. Anang isa pang babasahin:

"Culturally, the Malays were more advanced than the Negritoes, for they possessed the Iron Age culture. They introduced into the Philippines both lowland and highland methods of rice cultivation, including the system of irrigation; the domestication of animals (dogs, fowls and carabaos)…"^[11]

May binanggit sina Blair and Robertson hinggil sa pagkakatay ng aso nang unang dumating ang mga Español sa Hilagang Luzon noong ika-17 dantaon. Ayon sa kanilang aklat:

"..they get some gold, though in very small quantity, and with what they get in one way or another, they descend in peace to the towns nearest them to barter cows or cattle, and these are the ones they eat in their public gatherings with the aforesaid solemnity, since neither for these gatherings nor for their sustenance do they breed any kind of cattle or other living things whatsoever except some very wretched little dogs which we have often had a chance to see."^[12]

Wala namang pagbanggit sa pagkakatay ng aso sa mga isinasagawang ritwal ng mga Igorot sa aklat ni William Henry Scott na Discovery of the Igorots. Mga baboy, kalabaw at baka lamang ang nakasaad na kinakatay upang ialay sa ritwal na isinasagawa ng mga katutubo.

Simbolo ito ng kayamanan ng naghahanda. Mas maraming kalansay ng ulo ng kalabaw, baka, o baboy na nakatusok sa labas ng bahay ng Igorot, may malaki ang yaman nito.

Mas madalas katayin ang baboy at manok para sa mga ritwal dahil tinitingnan ang mga bituka nito at binabasa mula sa direksyon at korte ng mga internal na organo nito kung mananalo o matatalo sila sa labanan.^[13]

Gayunpaman, sa sanaysay na Dogtown USA: An Igorot Legacy in the Midwest ni Dr. Virgilio R. Pilapil, founding president ng Filipino American Historical Society sa Springfield, USA at affiliate ng Filipino American National Historical Society, inilahad niya kung paanong nakilala ang mga Igorot sa pagkain ng aso sa St. Louis World's Fair noong 1904.^[14]

Inilunsad ang St. Louis World's Fair, tinatawag ding Lousiana Purchase Exposition, upang alalahanin ang ika-100 anibersaryo ng pagkabili ng Lousiana ng Amerika mula sa France.

Pinakamalaki at pinakamatagal na eksposisyon itong naganap sa buong mundo. Sumali sa pitong buwang eksposisyon ang 45 bansang kinatawan ng 50 tribo. Tumira ang mga tribong ito sa 1,5000 gusaling itinayo sa  loob ng anim na taon sa 1,275 acres ng lupa.

May dumalong 1,100 Pilipino sa Philippine Exhibit. Kabilang dito ang mga Igorot na sumikat sa eksposisyon hindi lamang dahil sa kanilang magagarang bahag at magandang pagsayaw kundi pati na rin sa pagkain ng aso. Ani Dr. Pilapil:

"The head-hunting, dog-eating Igorots were the greatest attraction at the Philippine Exhibit, not only because of their novelty, the scanty dressing of the males and their daily dancing to the tom-tom beats, but also because of their appetite for dog meat which is a normal part of their diet.

 

The city of St. Louis provided them a supply of dogs at the agreed amount of 20 dogs a week, but this did not appear to be sufficient, as they had also encouraged local people to bring them dogs which they bought to supplement their daily needs.

 

The poaching of dogs became so common in the area near the Igorot Village such that the neighborhood was warned to watch for their dogs; even then, many dogs were disappearing in this neighborhood, angering and upsetting many people.

 

There were obviously many people who objected to the supplying of dogs to the Igorots, particularly the St. Louis Women's Humane Society, but there were also many people, perhaps much more, who sympathized the Igorot's need for dog meat.

 

As one Missourian, who had been to the Philippines and realized the difficulty of not being able to eat the food that one is used to, noted, "Every dog has his day, and every man his meat." He donated 200 fat Missouri dogs to the Igorots!"

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[10] Keesing, Felix M., Taming Philippine Headhunters, A Study of Government and of Cultural Change in Northern Luzon (London: George and Unwin Limited, 1934), pp. 45.

[11] An Online Guide of Philippine History, www.geocities.com/College Park/Pool/1644/precolonial.html

[12] Blair and Robertson. Philippine Islands 1493-1803 (Volume 20), pp. 276-279

[13] Keesing, Felix M., Taming Philippine Headhunters, A Study of Government and of Cultural Change in Northern Luzon (London: George and Unwin Limited, 1934), page 194. 

[14] Orihinal na nailathala sa Journal of Filipino American National Historical Society, Volume 2, 1992. Bersyon ito ng Heritage, June 1994, Volume 8, Issue 2, p.15, p.4, 3 bw.

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