Animal Rights Activism - Manila, Philippines - Jail Time for Abusers

By Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News

Posted at 09/04/2012 4:04 PM | Updated as of 09/04/2012 4:04 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Saying that hurting animals is no different from hurting humans, animal rights advocates and government agencies want stiffer penalties for animal cruelty.
The  Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) told the Senate agriculture and food committee on Tuesday that the punishment for violence against animals must be imprisonment of 6 to 12 years and a fine of at least P100,000.
PAWS, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) agree that the current penalties are not enough. Under Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act, people hurting animals will face imprisonment of only 6 months to 2 years and a fine of P2,000 to P5,000.
Anna Cabrera, executive director of PAWS, said protecting animals from violence is also about protecting humanity, and that imposing stiffer penalties for animal cruelty  is "a form of society's self-defense."
"What we do to animals, we do to ourselves," she said during Tuesday's hearing on proposed amendments to the country's animal rights law.
Cabrera said scientific evidence show that people who start out being cruel to animals eventually become cruel to their fellow humans.
"We believe that animals are more helpless. They cannot fight back. That's when people who are cruel to animals  begin to not appreciate the difference. They gain the confidence to move on and hurt human beings," she added.
Celebrities advocating animal rights also supported calls to increase penalties for animal cruelty, especially in light of recent incidents of violence.
Last week, for instance, a government employee was caught on camera beating up a dog.
Fashion model and TV personality Joey Mead said at the hearing that seeing animals hurt pains her.
"They have feelings. I can see it in their faces. It's amazing how anyone can hurt them. They don't have a voice. It's important for penalties to go higher," she said.
"Being kind to animals,  it improves our capability to be kind to the human beings," added actress Heart Evangelista. "I really do hope that we can do something about this."
The committee's chairman, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, said he will endorse the proposed higher penalties for violence against animals.
He believes the existing penalties are inadequate and even laughable. "Parang tatawanan nga lang ng mga salarin itong batas na ito," he told reporters after the hearing.
Pangilinan added, however, that the penalties need to be adjusted depending on the gravity of the offense and the number of animals effected. He asked the DOJ and PAWS to submit recommendations.
The BAI, meanwhile, hopes to have a separate budget for animal welfare. At present, its committee on animal welfare is covered by the overall budget of the agency, said officer-in-charge Rubina Cresencio.
Cresencio added that the agency needs more manpower to be able to put up animal welfare divisions in local governments units, which the law requires.
 

Murder at a North Carolina "Shelter" - Warning Graphic

WARNING:  GRAPHIC:  This is what shelters do.  They say they don't like it but I do not see them making any big efforts to adopt out.  They take the easy way out and murder.

A Letter from a Shelter Manager - anonymous in North Carolina

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused

 eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.

Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT.
~ UNKNOWN AUTHOR

Why Do We Need A Revolution For Animals?

3 September 2012

Over hundreds of years animals have been the targets of neglect, abuse, murder, consumption, hunting for sport, etc.  This topic is very controversial, and there are many people on each side of the fence that have their own opinions about the subject.  This blog attempts to share my feelings and my opinions.  I feel there is a deep need in this country and in others to reform the whole system of the way we look, feel and treat the animals of this country and world.  My feeling is that animals should be treated with love and respect.  It should be acknowledged that they do feel emotions just like we humans do.  They are intelligent and understand far more than they are given credit for.

As we are all aware, when we allow, by intent or accident, female animals to become pregnant, by nature they have several offspring at one time.  Thus, the multiplication of sheer numbers becomes an increasing problem as there are fewer homes and less people willing to care for the higher numbers and thus they become "homeless" in one way or another.  An obvious solution to the increasing numbers is to spay and neuter.  I feel this needs to be publicized more, to reach even the rural areas of the country and there needs to be more accessibility to lower cost spay and neuter clinics, even mobile clinics.  This is the most logical and humane way to treat animal overpopulation with kindness and compassion. 

The following are some of the subjects I wish to touch upon in this blog that I am so compassionate about.  I know there are many out there who share my feelings and many who do not.  I feel it is time to address these issues and make some major changes in the "system" to benefit the welfare of animals around this country and the world.

1.  Animal abuse is on the rise.  I am not sure why that is so but it is.  The laws in this country (USA) do not seem to be protecting animals and, therefore, the "system" is broken.  I would like to see reform and change in the justice system in order to better protect animals from cruelty, neglect and death.  I would like to see longer jail sentences depending upon the severity of the abuse and a 3 strikes law put into place whereby an offender is sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty for conviction of 3 offenses of violence/abuse towards an animal.

2. Animal shelters/control facilities:  These are usually run by "government" personnel who view their positions as "jobs".  Many facilities advocate on their web pages that it is their policy to protect citizens from rabies, control stray animals and resolve complaints.  Most of them do not advocate that they want to find homes for the animals brought to their facilities and most of them are too busy murdering animals rather than trying to fund raise, better the conditions in the  facility or keep the facility sanitary enough so the animals do not get sick.  A lot of these facilities label the animals negatively and thus an excuse for murder (the polite term they use is  "euthanization"), such as the animal is "too shy" or has an "upper respiratory infection."  The above behavior needs to be changed.  There needs to be a "No Kill Nation" established so that animals are treated with respect and dignity.  They need to be given a chance to survive and not methodically be put to death just for convenience sake.

3.  Along the lines of #2 above is the problem of "dumping" unwanted animals in animal control facilities, loosely labeled as "shelters."  In today's economy people have various reasons for separating themselves as caretakers for their pets.  Many people who have animals in their homes do not really deserve to keep an animal as they do not have the ambition, kindness or time to take care of the animal.  This leads to abuse, neglect, suffering and breaking of an animal's spirit.  Others do care for their "pets" but have come upon hard times and barely have enough money to shelter and feed themselves so they unwillingly give up their beloved pets to the "shelters" hoping that the pet may find a new home and be better cared for.  Consequently, these unfortunate circumstances create a bad situation for the animals and for the "shelters."  I believe there need to be alternatives to this situation perhaps where the "shelters" ask for a donation when an animal is brought to their facility.  This donation could help with the animal's care.  This is what is done by some rescue agencies when they accept an animal into their facility for lifetime care.  There could be other solutions also, which I will write about at the opportune time.

4.  State Laws In General:  Laws should protect the welfare and lives of animals and not advocate for "street justice" against any unwanted animal.  In many rural areas of the country, it is not illegal to shoot a dog, for instance.  Why is this so?  The laws should promote the feeling that animals are NOT disposable, not for man's pleasure to abuse and not to be disrespected.  The laws governing police treatment of animals need to be redefined in order that any animal who needs to be controlled is not shot and killed by a bullet but rather tranquilized and shown compassion.  There are many reasons why a dog, for instance, may be upset or appear to be aggressive when they are in fact protecting an owner or are just afraid of a situation they find themselves in.  Too many stories are being published lately of animals being shot by police and there is no recourse to preventing these situations from happening.  The laws in this regard should be changed.

5.  Hunting:  This is another very controversial subject.  In my opinion hunting should not be promoted as a useful sport, especially hunting for trophies.  We human beings are only given so many years to live by nature.  This is true for animals also.  They are given even less time on this earth than humans are.  What gives a human a right to take that life away prematurely?  Years from now when a human life is gone, that "trophy" on the wall will have no meaning to any life that remains.  This is a selfish, unnecessary sport that needs to be outlawed.

6.  Dog Fighting:  Another selfish "sport" that although there are laws to supposedly stop this illegal practice from happening, it continues to be a widespread "cancer" of our society.  More needs to be done to find, report and jail the perpetrators of such crimes.  Along with the dog fighting rings goes dog (and other animal) kidnapping which is also on the rise.  People have had their beloved pet kidnapped from their own yard and disappear, and we know that many of these precious souls are unwilling subjects of horrific abuse, torture and death when they are used as bait in these illegal despicable dog fighting tragedies.  There must be a better system put in place to be able to find and break up these horrible "gangs" of dog abusers. 

7.  Vegetarianism/Veganism:  To round out my thoughts about the ethical treatment of animals in general, I believe that promoting vegetarian/vegan lifestyles is the most respectful way each individual can live their life and make a difference.  Huge numbers of people in this country and around the world still have not adopted this way of life and, contrarily, "enjoy" the momentary gastronomic pleasure of consuming a dead animal.  They, in turn, will eventually reap the unfortunate benefits of their consumption by finding out that they have heart disease, coronary disease, high cholesterol, medical problems, etc.  This is know scientific fact which will be discussed further as my blog progresses.

In summary, the above is only the "tip of the iceberg" and many more of my thoughts will be shared in the coming months.  I am grateful to those who share my opinion and hope to open the eyes of at least some of those who do not.  It is not for all humans to love animals as I do but it is for all humans to treat animals with respect and not as disposable items to be thrown away like trash.  A lot of trash gets recycled these days.  The same cannot be said for the lives of animals that are destroyed in the above unnecessary, evil and unkind ways.