MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal has joined animal rights groups in opposing a bill legalizing greyhound racing in Mandaue town, Cebu province.

To show her protest, Madrigal brought her eight-month-old greyhound named Prasad, when she held a press conference at the Senate on Tuesday.

?Hindi lang ako tutol sa animal cruelty pero pati na rin sa bill na nagsusulong sa sugal [I am not only against animal cruelty, but gambling as well],? she said.

?Sa greyhound racing, pag hindi sila nanalo, pinapatay sila. Cruel talaga [In greyhound racing, the dogs are killed if they lose. It?s really cruel],? she said.

Madrigal said Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal also supported her position.

Present at the press conference were animal welfare groups?The Animal Kingdom Foundation, Feather Friends Foundation, Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA), Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

CARA president Nancy Cu-Unjeing said allowing the passage of the bill would be a setback for the Philippines.

?Greyhound racing is in the same league as cockfighting, horse fighting and other such sports which harm animals for the sake of entertaining people,? Unjeing said in a statement.

?In the Philippines where there is an explosion of unwanted cats and dogs who roam the streets, become road kill, and generally suffer abuse from an unenlightened citizenry, why allow another opportunity for abuse in the form of over breeding and destroying animals indiscriminately?? she asked.

In the United States, CARA said, about 20,000 surplus greyhounds are destroyed every year while more than 15,000 racing greyhounds have been euthanized in the United Kingdom.