Sirius Global Animal Organisation (Sirius GAO), campaigning to end the export of domestic dogs to China for torture and slaughter for their meat and fur.

NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

The Philippines

Few would deny that dog eating is rife in the Philippines, although its Government appears to be committed to eradicating the practice.

On Tuesday 25th March 2008, a new Law was passed which now has a penalty of 5,000 pesos (ŁUK60) fine per dog and a mandatory minimum of one (and up to four) year's imprisonment for anyone caught transporting dogs for slaughter or killing them. This is a huge improvement on the derisory ŁUK20 fine per conviction which existed prior to this legislation. The average family income in 2006 was 172,000 pesos (ŁUK2085) - source: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/stats/statwatch.asp.

Having visited the Philippines and spoken personally with members of the Government, Senate, and the Provincial Governor of Iliolo, I am convinced of their sincerity in wanting to stamp out the human consumption of dogs in that country.

Things will not be fixed overnight, but while the Philippines Government continues to work closely with the Animal Kingdom Foundation they have to be congratulated for wanting to come into the 21st Century. It is a shame that countries such as Korea and China are not prepared to follow suit!

Government approved Police raids are carried out ruthlessly on the illegal dog traders and the rescued dogs are taken to the Animal Kingdom Foundation Centre which, as of March 2008, houses 300 dogs. These dogs have been nursed back to good health, and are fully vaccinated and thus free from any disease and available for adoption. Those who cannot be homed because of the trauma they have experienced at the hands of the illegal dog traders remain at the Centre in safety for the rest of their lives. The World Health Organisation supplies rabies vaccine free and it is fully utilised.

We have decided to leave the photos and media reports below on our site as a reminder to the Philippines Government that the world is watching and as a reminder to us all that incidents like these are not yet history.

Presentation of Sirius' Submission to Governor Tupas of Iliolo Province Left to right - Luis Buenaflor (Animal Kingdom Foundation) Dr Silvino Teodosio (Chief Veterinarian Province of Iliolo), Govenor Neil Tupas, Govenor's Private Secretary, Pip Roberts (Sirius) Elly Maynard (Sirius)

A Personal Message from Elly Maynard
Chairperson and Founder, Sirius GAO

"On Sunday 9th March I travelled to the Philippines to meet various Government Ministers etc to discuss the Submission presented last year to the World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN. While these meetings were extremely productive and fruitful, this news release is not about that. It is about telling you something positive that is happening for dogs.

"This trip was organised by Luis Buenaflor, External Affairs Officer, Animal Kingdom Foundation, Philippines. The Animal Kingdom Foundation is the major organisation in the Philippines actively working with the Government and Police on having dogs removed from the human food chain. I had the opportunity of travelling to Capas,Tarlac, 3 hours drive from Manila to visit the Animal Kingdom Foundation Rescue Centre. There are 300 dogs housed there, all rescued from the illegal dog meat traders.

"The Centre is impressive to say the least and considering the small staff numbers and the fact that they rely on charitable donations, their efforts are outstanding.

"After tip offs, Police road blocks are set up and accompanied by Animal Kingdom staff, the illegal trucks with their loads of dogs crammed into unbelievable conditions, noses tightly bound with chicken wire, tin cans etc, are stopped. The illegal traders are arrested and the dogs transferred to Animal Kingdom Foundation vehicles for transfer to the Centre in Tarlac. The state of the dogs at this stage is beyond words.

"Once at the Centre, any injured dog is immediately seen by the Veterinarians who work there. The dogs are then left to settle in the wide spacious sheltered pens for a couple of days. Bathing, grooming, nail clipping etc then takes place and all the animals are de-sexed. They all receive full Veterinary checks and are fully vaccinated. The World Health Organisation supplies free rabies vaccines to the Philippines which are fully utilised.

"This beautiful Centre is a haven for these traumatised dogs. These animals are not just strays rescued from the streets, but animals that were destined for a horrendous death and rescued from indescribable conditions so their story is definitely well worth telling and the Centre definitely well worth publicizing!

"There is a quarantine area, surgery/veterinary clinic, staff house and guest trooms for visitors. The Centre is set in 4 hectares of flat land which was once a mango plantation. Mango trees line both sides of the rows of pens. There is no overcrowding and dogs are placed in each area according to temperament. The dogs suitable for adoption are placed in one, those undergoing rehabilitation in another and those who will never be adopted but will live their whole lives at the Centre in love and safety in others. These are not "bad breed" dogs, but those who have been so traumatised by their treatment.

"Please see the Animal Kingdom Foundation web site at www.animalkingdomfoundation.org it is definitely worth a visit. I would like to ask anyone who wishes to donate towards animals to make Animal Kingdom Foundation a recipient of your funds. They are doing something totally positive and their dedication is exemplary.

"Having fought against dogs being in the human food chain for many years and now to have seen the work being undertaken by the Animal Kingdom Foundation in rescuing the dogs from this trade and their new life, I totally recommend sponsorship of them."

Photos from The Animal Kingdom Foundation's shelter

The Animal Kingdom Foundation do not currently have an easy method to accept contributions from international supporters. Anyone wishing to make a small donation can use Sirius' Paypal account (you can pay safely with an ordinary debit or credit card) and we'll be pleased to send your contribution on to them - Just click the button below and indicate it is for AKF on the Paypal form.

11th February 2009, For Immediate Release

By Elly Maynard

On Tuesday 27th January I flew out to Manila along with Chris Taylor, a New Zealand Police Dog Handler, Ingrid Leary, an Award Winning Journalist and Peter Takapuna, her cameraman to film the undercover rescue of 15 dogs from the illegal meat trade.

The operation was a huge success though fraught with danger for the Animal Kingdom undercover operative who had made contact with an illegal dog meat trader. The link to the report which screened on New Zealand national television is on YouTube.

This was the first time that such a rescue was attempted. Dogs are normally rescued on their way to the meat traders and stopped at road blocks by the Police.

Sirius funded the whole operation including the purchase of the 15 dogs. Nothing prepared me however for how traumatic the rescue would be and to see the fear and death in the dogs eyes was something I will never forget.

The dogs are now safe at the Animal Kingdom Foundation Centre at Capas, Tulac, Philippines.

      Photos taken during the rescue

On Friday the 6th February the biggest campaign in Philippines history was launched. The Philippines National Police in conjunction with the Animal Kingdom Foundation have launched a poster campaign with posters placed at every Air and Sea port stating that eating of dogs is illegal. The penalty for this is up to 4 years in jail and US$780 fine. This updated law was put in place last year and we are assured that it will be strictly enforced. The poster is shown below. Click on the image for a full-size printable version.

We congratulate the AKF on their outstanding achievements and look forward to working with them in the future.

The following photos were taken by our colleagues from the International Wildlife Coalition during June 2002 in Bagauio, Philippines. Our thanks for their kind permission to reproduce them here. These images are "clickable".





The following item was reported by Sky News in October 2002.

"Horror Of Illegal Dog Trade

Animal welfare campaigners have accused the Philippines government of not doing enough to end the suffering of dogs bred for the dinner table.

The animals face horrendous conditions and are killed brutally before their meat is served up as a "delicacy". Sky's Martin Brunt has been to Manila to investigate. He filed this special report to Sky News Online:

The black, unmarked police car had shadowed the small truck for 20 miles as it weaved its way through heavy traffic along the highway towards Manila.

Just beyond the toll booth at the city limit the cops swung in front of their target and forced it to stop.

As we approached we could smell the dogs and hear their whimpering.

Airless

They were crammed into metal cages which the illegal meat traders had barely bothered to hide beneath cloths and empty oil cans.

It was 9pm on a humid, airless night. The temperature was nudging 28 degrees. A cursory glance into the back of the truck gave a clear hint of the wretched animals' plight.

The full horror was revealed only when an officer had forced open the metal rear door.

There was such a jumble of heads, tails and legs it was impossible to tell which limbs belonged to which dog. According to animal rights campaigners, each night truck-loads of dogs like these are driven in appalling conditions from the southern suburbs of the capital north to the mountainous region of Baguio, where they are butchered, sold and eaten as a delicacy.

Corruption

For two years the London-based campaign group Political Animal Lobby has been battling to stop the trade.

It is outlawed by the Philippines authorities, but an apparent lack of will, police corruption and inadequate penalties mean it continues much as before.

Pal's David Barritt splashed water through the mesh of the cages as he struggled to untie the wire fastenings that held them shut. "Just look at their suffering," he said. "They are hot and desperate for air and water. It's difficult to imagine what they have been through."

Pal members who later accompanied the 75 dogs to the local pound said that 30 of them were dead on arrival.

Fines

The truck driver and his mate, two dishevelled Filippinos in grubby T-shirts and shorts, were led off to the police station. They were released after questioning.

Brunt: "shocked"

Although the offence can carry a jail sentence and/or a maximum fine of 5,000 pesos (Ł61) offenders are seldom ordered to pay more than 1,000 pesos (Ł12).

"We are pressing the government to give much bigger fines and start seizing vehicles," said Barritt.

"That's the only way these people will understand what they are doing is wrong. There just isn't the deterrent for them to stop."

We flew 167 miles north into the mountains to see what happened to the dogs that weren't intercepted by police.

Slaughter

The area around Baguio City is the dog-eating centre of the Philippines where for centuries people have killed and eaten the animals with impunity.

Illegal trade Today, little is being done to enforce the new laws.

An early-morning raid on an illegal slaughterhouse took us into a scene from hell. It was no more than a grubby backyard with bamboo shelters, its cracked concrete floor splattered with fresh blood.

On a table in the middle was a pile of dead dogs, their throats slashed and their jaws still tightly bound with plastic ties. One of the animals began to twitch. Blood dripped from its mouth.

Blow torch

Around them were the tools of the butcher's trade - a blood-stained wooden club used to beat the dogs, knives and choppers to finish them off and a gas-fired blow torch for burning away their fur.

And in cages nearby were the dogs which would have been next for the chopping block. They stared meekly at us, subdued, weak from heat exhaustion and unable to make any noise.

With no food or water, they had watched their fellow animals being slaughtered and must have assumed that we had come to do the same to them.

Some of them were lucky and would survive, but many were expected to be put down humanely, too weak to recover from their ordeal."

Cruelty to animals rampant in Philippines
by Neal H. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5th Feb 2002

THE PHILIPPINE Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals did not like a phrase in my Jan. 10 column that described the PSPCA as next to useless and sent me a letter to prove that it is not, in fact, next to useless. But first, let me give you a background of the PSPCA as it is so, well, inactive that people hardly notice it.

The PSPCA was created by a special law, Act 1285, in 1904 by the Philippine Commission during the American regime. The primary objective of the law was to enforce the law against cruelty to animals and to do other acts that will alleviate the suffering of animals. Its first officers were mostly Americans.

Since then, the PSPCA acted as enforcer of laws to prevent cruelty to animals with police power to make arrests. In 1936, however, Commonwealth Act 148 amending Act 1285 was enacted, withdrawing the police power of the PSPCA supposedly to correct a serious defect of the law. The cruel treatment of animals was viewed as an offense against the state and therefore it is the government who is duty-bound to enforce it.

Since then, the PSPCA became a toothless tiger, said the letter by PSPCA president Edgardo Aldaba, but not next to useless for we are engaged in other activities regarding promotion of welfare of animals which among others include the following:

1. Operating and maintaining an animal clinic charging a minimal fee of 40 pesos.

2. Providing shelter for abandoned canines, felines, lupines, avians and even amphibians for as long as its limited resources can sustain while looking for a prospective foster owner.

3. Giving free anti-rabies vaccination in different barangays in Metro Manila.

4. Giving lectures in different city schools of Manila for the proper care of animals in order to mold them to be responsible pet owners. 5. Providing job training for graduating veterinary students of different veterinary schools in the country.

6. Providing legal advice and counseling to owners of pets which became victims of mans cruelty to animals.

The letter said the PSPCA also assists in the criminal prosecution of these cruelty cases.

I would also like to bring to your kind attention, Aldaba wrote, to the fact that the PSPCA was given recognition by international organizations for its participation in the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Enclosed were photocopies of a certificate of recognition from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and a certificate of appreciation from the Animal Protection Institute of America based in Sacramento, California. It was dated February 1984. Such a long time ago. Arent there any for more recent activities?

The PSPCA has a special place in my memory. When I was a student living on Lepanto Street, behind the old Selecta building at the corner of C.M. Recto, the PSPCA was only a few steps away. I used to go there and look at the dogs and feel sorry for them and wished I and the PSPCA and the government could do more for them. But then, as it is today, not much is being done for them. On the contrary, things have gotten worse for the dogs.

The laws against irresponsible pet ownership and against cruelty to animals are not being enforced now as strictly as they were being enforced then. There are more stray dogs now in the streets of Manila and elsewhere in the Philippines. Dog-eaters are increasing. Dogs are stolen and shipped to Baguio trussed up and packed in cages. They are killed by bludgeoning them on the head or nape with a club, then butchered and cooked. Then they are eaten by drunks as pulutan (bar chow).

People in Baguio and the mountain provinces like to eat dog meat because of the belief that it heats up the body against the cold. This is false. It is the liquor they drink, not the dog meat, that makes them hot. Wouldnt it be wonderful if the PSPCA and the national and local governments can set them aright?

Dog fighting is right now taking place in Metro Manila, participated in by prominent families. This is prohibited by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) besides being very cruel to the dogs, yet nobody has ever been arrested and prosecuted for dog fighting.

Horse fighting is also prohibited by AWA, yet it is held openly in Davao and other parts of Mindanao during town fiestas and other celebrations attended perhaps by the town mayor, congressman and other officials of the province and municipality. Horse fighting is also very cruel to the horses. But have you heard of anybody being arrested and prosecuted for horse fighting?

Cockfighting is also very cruel to the fighting cocks. A fight almost always ends in death. But it is allowed by law because there are so many sabungeros, many of them prominent and supposedly educated personalities. But it being legal does not make the practice any less cruel.

Wouldnt it be wonderful if the PSPCA and other animal welfare groups can educate our people so that someday, such cruel and barbaric acts like dog-, horse- and cockfighting will be stopped?

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