Oplan Dog Hang

Animal lovers are up in arms about a new animal control campaign in Quezon City.

"Wag nang manlaban, isuko na ang alagang hayop! Upang hindi na makapinsala at makadumi sa kapaligiran."

This phrase translates roughly to:

"Don't resist, surrender your pet dog. In order not to harm and pollute the environment."

On the face of it it would seem they are advocating for the public to give up their pet dogs. However that makes no sense. If you are a responsible pet owner, a rare breed in the Philippines, why would the local government want you to give up your pet animal? Surely this has to do with strays. PAWS, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, had this to say:

The use of the term "dog"-hang whether as an allusion to “tokhang” (used colloquially to mean "to summarily kill someone") or as a way to encourage violent acts towards animals (ie. “hang”) as a means of animal control is wrong.  

Animal control or collection of strays must be done humanely under the Animal Welfare Act (RA 8485, as amended by RA 10631).  

Using “tokhang” to refer to the killing or rounding up of animals who have not committed any crime is unfair and ignorant. Its message is also dangerous and irresponsible as the poster gives the impression that inhumane acts towards strays are acceptable. 

By telling the public to surrender their animals to the pound, Barangay Capri officials encourage pet abandonment instead of educating them to become responsible pet owners.  

RA 9482 or the Anti Rabies Act already specifies what pet owners must do (aside from getting their pets regularly vaccinated): they should keep their dogs enclosed safely within their yard. Owned dogs, as a general rule, should not be allowed to roam the streets freely. They should only leave the owner’s property on a leash or under the effective control of their owner. If there are violations in this regard, it is the human owner that should be be penalized and not the animals. 

Barangay Capri claims that the LGU regularly coordinates with PAWS and other animal welfare groups about adoptions. This is NOT TRUE. Animal welfare shelters are not repositories of stray animals. PAWS focuses on the prevention of pet homelessness through education, lobbying and spay-neuter.  

Pounds do not regularly coordinate with animal welfare groups because they are well aware of the difference between animal control and animal welfare and their areas of responsibility.  

Sadly, majority of the strays collected by pounds are put to death/euthanized because hardly any one goes to the pound to adopt a pet.  

PAWS urges the public to do the following to contribute to solving the problem of strays: 

1. Have your pets “kapon”ed or spayed (females) or neutered* (males) by a licensed veterinarian. 

2. If you want a pet, never buy one. Just visit your local pound or a shelter to adopt. 

3. Please keep your pets inside your yards /homes and always keep them in a carrier or on a leash when you are in a public place.  

Leashing your dog in a public place has nothing to do with whether your pet is well-behaved or aggressive. It is to keep your dog safe from any untoward incident and to keep him under your effective control in the event of an emergency. 

Note: PAWS believes in due process for all human and animals. “Tokhang” is not acceptable. PAWS representatives and volunteer-lawyers regularly attend all court hearings and file criminal cases against those who have committed the most heinous crimes against helpless and innocent animals. Every individual must have their day in court.

https://www.facebook.com/pawsphilippines/posts/1892581704120799?__tn__=K-R

One can understand the concern from PAWS at the thought of blindly killing man's best friend but have they considered what is at stake?

Last year, Quezon City reported 13,231 cases of dog and cat bites. Three people died from rabies.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/metro-manila/04/14/15/bistek-signs-new-law-4-dogs-cats-qc-household

That statistic is from 2014, only four years ago. This news report concerns an animal control law enacted by Quezon City which was inevitably protested by PAWS, and ultimately repealed. It appears that this law is a response to the 13,231 cases of dog and cate bites reported in the previous year. In addition to this law, QC also embarked on a mass vaccination program which has seen very positive results.

http://manilastandard.net/lgu/ncr/259088/quezon-city-sees-rabies-cases-drop-30-percent.html

THE Quezon City government has posted a 30-percent drop in rabies cases in 2017 due to Mayor Herbert Bautista’s massive vaccination program that started in 2016. 

According to the city’s veterinary department, just 13 rabies cases were recorded last year, compared to 23 in 2016.

Yet despite the success of this program it seems there are still problems with dogs in Quezon City.  Given the fact that there is a mass vaccination program happening how likely is it that this QC barangay is really advocating abandoning pets or killing strays outright? Not likely I would say.

At best the play on words is misguided which has lent to a lot of confusion and what they really want is for the public to give up their animals to be vaccinated. At worst....well there really is no worst since eradicating stray animals who pose a risk to public health is a very good thing. PAWS may not like it, they may not be able to comprehend it, but stray dogs running around ripping through trash, pooping everywhere, mating uncontrollably, acting aggressive towards people, and causing a ruckus in general are no good for anyone. They are a danger even unto themselves. Who would want to adopt one?

And that is just the strays. There are too many owners who let their dogs do the same thing. They open the gate and let them run around the neighbourhood doing as they please or the dog roams the area in front of its hour like a entry making passing by dangerous if not impossible.

As with many problems in the Philippines the dog problem is self-inflicted and easily resolvable. However since neglect of dogs is ingrained in the culture this problem is not going away anytime soon despite the efforts of PAWS to educate owners. Take a look at these statistics from Davao:

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/422121

Hilario said there were 58,581 animal bites from dogs and cats recorded in 2017. 

Hilario said there were 1,713 deaths caused by rabies recorded from 2010 to 2016 -- that's an average of 245 deaths per year. 

Those  numbers are insane! Can PAWS really blame anyone if in response they start culling strays? 

Always remember the observations of  Jesuit from 300 years ago:

26. They do not care for any domestic animal—dog, cat, horse, or cow. They only care, and too much so, for the fighting cocks; and every morning, on rising from slumber, the first thing that they do is to go to the roosting-place of their cock—where, squatting down on their heels, in its presence, they stay very quietly for at least a half-hour in contemplation of their cock. This observance is unfailing in them.

http://www.philippinehistory.net/views/1720sanagustin.htm