For causing pain and suffering to animals, the maintainers of a dolphin and sea lion show which ran for several months have been charged with violating Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act.
Scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. on May 31 before Judge Caridad Walse-Lutero of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 34 were Jose Avelino and Ma. Carla Mamburam.
The two were behind the Angels of the Sea Dolphins and Lion Show which featured marine performances from December 2010 until February last year at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.
The complaint against Avelino and Mamburam was filed by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and Earth Island Institute (EII) before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
The Inquirer was furnished a copy of the court resolution by Roy Kabahan, the lawyer of the animal rights groups.
Last year, PAWS filed charges against a University of the Philippines student who killed a cat and then wrote about it on his blog. He was later found guilty of animal abuse and sentenced to care for the cats and dogs at an animal shelter for several months.
In a three-page resolution, Assistant City Prosecutor Arleen Tagaban said that there was probable cause to indict the respondents, adding that the two had failed to file their counter-affidavits on the allegations against them.
“Hence, for determining the existence of probable cause, the undersigned believes that there is sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that respondents had violated the provisions of RA 8485 and that they are probably guilty thereof,” Tagaban said.
She noted that the respondents also did not attend the preliminary investigation of the case and as a result, they failed to present proof that they had secured a certificate of registration from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for the marine show.
“For their failure to secure first a certificate of registration, it follows that the facilities and establishments in the dolphin/sea lion road shows are not adequate, clean and sanitary and it has caused pain/and or suffering to the animals, a form of cruelty to animals,” Tagaban said.
As provided for in the Animal Welfare Act, operators of animal road shows must first secure a certificate of registration from the BAI as part of efforts to protect and promote the humane treatment of animals.
Under the law, a certificate of registration will be issued upon proof that the applicant’s facilities for animals are clean and that they would be cared for.
In their complaint, PAWS and EII alleged that the animals in the road show were subjected to cruelty such as being deprived of food to condition them to obey commands, being kept in a small and shallow pool and forcing them to perform for five days straight without rest.
They added that the animals were also exposed to amplified noise from firecrackers on New Year’ Eve.
The affidavit of two marine mammal experts, Dr. Arnel Yaptichay and Dr. Ma. Theresa Aquino, pointed out that dolphins kept in captivity like the ones which perform in road shows experience “severe amounts of stress.”
“This is because they are subjected to situations and conditions unnatural to their behavior and evolution as wild animals,” Tagaban said in her resolution.
The judge, meanwhile, ordered Avelino and Mamburam to submit their counter-affidavits within 10 days of receiving her order. With Daphne Magturo