Vehicle trading firm sued for animal cruelty

BAGUIO CITY—A resident here on Wednesday sued officials of a Cagayan-based vehicle trading firm for animal cruelty after a dog, whose snout was bound by tape, was placed in a sack and strapped to a spare tire in a sport utility vehicle that was traveling along Session Road here on Sunday.

But an official of the vehicle trading firm said the Nissan Safari that was subject of the complaint was not the company’s property anymore and had been sold in 2008 to a Baguio resident. Police have started a manhunt for the current owner of the vehicle.

Ivy Buenaobra, education officer of the Animal Kingdom Foundation, said the complainant, whose identity was withheld for security reasons, filed a case of violation of Republic Act No. 8485 (Animal Welfare Act) at the city prosecutor’s office here against officials of the Apollo International Cagayan Trading Corp.

Buenaobra said the complaint was based on the violation of Section 4 of RA 8485, which states, in part: “No cruel confinement or restraint shall be made on such animals (pet, wildlife or other animals) while being transported.”

The complainant posted the photograph of the dog strapped to the vehicle on the social networking site Facebook to draw public attention on its improper handling. The way the dog was transported drew criticisms from social media users and animal welfare advocates.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, policemen flagged down the vehicle after a resident, who saw the dog hanging by the spare tire in the vehicle’s rear, reported the incident to a nearby station.

Insp. Jaime Fonacier, the officer of the Community Police Assistance Center (Compac) who inspected the vehicle, said he allowed the driver to leave after he agreed to place the dog inside the vehicle.

Fonacier said he did not ask for the driver’s name or confiscate his license after he assured the police that the dog would not be slaughtered.

“The driver said they could not keep the dog inside the car because it was smelly and the car was full. It had six passengers. I told myself, it looked ugly transporting the dog that way, so I told them to place it inside the car and they heeded our plea,” Fonacier said.

“It seemed to me that the driver did not violate anything since the dog looked like it was not suffering and in good condition. When the driver told me that the dog would not be slaughtered and would be kept for breeding, I thought that they had a good reason so I allowed them to go,” he said in Filipino.

SPO4 Virgilio Hidalgo, Compac deputy commander, said they did not know how the case should be treated.

“We don’t know how to categorize the case since it was the first time that this happened … We need guidance on cases like this,” Hidalgo said.

Police records did not show the name of the vehicle owner but the Inquirer was able to reach one of the officials of the company that was sued for animal cruelty.

Pietro Geroue, president and chief executive officer of Apollo International Cagayan Trading Corp., said the company sold the vehicle (with plate number BDK 167) to Agustin Senot, a policeman and resident of Baguio City, in 2008 in Port Irene in Sta. Ana, Cagayan.

He, however, said Senot had told him on Wednesday night that he did not own the vehicle anymore as he sold it in 2010.

Geroue said he did not know the present owner of the vehicle.

He said he had reported to the police mobile group office in Isabela the circumstances of the sale and ownership of the vehicle after he was informed that there was a case filed against his company.

Ownership

“Before they file a case, they should determine the new owner of the car. We will reply if there is a notice of hearing but we are not the  owner of the vehicle anymore. We are not at fault here,” Geroue told the Inquirer by telephone on Wednesday.

Geroue also blamed the police for failing to do their work diligently.

“If [the driver] committed a crime, why did the police allow him to go? Isn’t that unlawful? The police could have asked the name of the driver or seized his license. If there was violation, why did they not impound the vehicle?” he said.

Buenaobra said the complainant is pursuing the case against the vehicle trading firm. “The vehicle is still registered under [the company’s] name. It’s their obligation to reveal the name of the new owner but we are not being informed, although we have already contacted them,” she said.  Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon