Two “quarantine violators” inside a private subdivision in Quezon City on Tuesday provided a welcome source of amusement for netizens in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic.They were pet ostriches that were caught on video running loose inside Mapayapa Village III in Diliman.
Dino Rivera, who recorded one around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, told GMA News Online that he was in front of a store when he saw the bird sprinting on the village’s main road.
“I have seen weird things in my life, but this one ranks up there,” he said in a post on Facebook that went viral.
The second ostrich was seen heading for the village gate, but a security guard lowered a yellow and white barrier just in time to stop it from escaping.
Finding humor in his confrontation with the huge flightless bird, he told it in Filipino: “You have no ID. You cannot leave. You don’t have a gate pass.”
Actress Alessandra de Rossi “called out” the ostrich for “violating” quarantine protocols.
“[Please] note that this ostrich is not wearing a mask, running around in high heels during ECQ. Please call the Barangay,” De Rossi said on Twitter.
According to one of the video uploaders, the ostriches were pets of a local resident.
They were eventually caught by a security guard and several construction workers in the area around an hour later.
According to Mapayapa Village III’s homeowners association, the birds were eventually brought back to their owner’s property, which is under construction.
Ostriches may be domesticated or propagated under Philippine laws, but subject to requirements imposed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Peta, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was rooting for the ostrich, which was trying to escape.
Peta Asia’s Nirali Shah, apparently unaware that there were two birds, said captivity could not replicate habitats of wild animals “even under the best of circumstances.”
Shah said the bird was likely “injured and traumatized” and should be checked by a veterinarian.
She said “there’s something deeply wrong about keeping other living beings for human amusement.” INQ