On pedigree

Upseting to see how ignorant we can be about animals and how much we devalue dogs simply because of breed— standards of beauty set for these animals that even they are completely unaware about. 

There is no less love that an askal can give and no more love that a purebred dog is willing to give you. Sure, a dog’s pedigree may be responsible for certain traits but it does not define that animal, nor does it limit its capacity in any way. Every single dog has his or her own character and temperament which is, most of the time and more often than we know, attributable to the dog owner. Believing a silly notion that a dog, just because of breed, is better than their mixed breed counterpart is a sweeping generalisation. Believing that a dog is such because he is a certain breed is tantamount to believing something like Filipinos, just because they’re Filipinos, all are discriminatory idiots who assign value depending on pedigree. I’d like to think otherwise.

The Animal Welfare Situation

By Anna Isabel C. Rodriguez

The author with just some of her pet dogs on a normal weekend.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way animals are treated,” Mahatma Gandhi said.

The young doktora smiles as she proudly shows this quote. We are in the City Hall, inside the busy Health office. Being interviewed is Dr. Karen Vicencio, City Vet, Parañaque’s one-woman Animal Welfare Division.

According to Section 7 of Republic Act 9482 or the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007, local government units (LGUs) are not only required by law to employ a veterinarian, they are also required to establish and maintain a city pound and a city veterinary office. The latter provisions have yet to see light as Parañaque struggles to implement RA 9482. In the meantime, Dra. Vicencio, seemingly misplaced in the City Health Office, looks to the future for possible programs and improvements.

Animal Welfare in the Back Seat

Republic Act 8485  of the Animal Welfare Act of 2008 calls for humane and proper treatment of animals, penalizes animal torture and neglect, and empowers the Bureau of Animal Industry to regulate animal handling through proper issuance of permits.