Cavite cat cruelty prompts Abalos to promote animal welfare laws

Stray cats caught in Barangay San Jose, Dasmariñas City, are found starving in a cage at a farm converted into a pound by the village chief. (Photo by Yvette Mayo)

MANILA, Philippines — In the wake of reports of animal abuse,Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. announced plans to issue a memorandum circular aimed at raising public awareness about animal welfare laws.

Before drafting the circular, Abalos said on Saturday that he would refer the issue to the director of Police Regional 4A (Calabarzon) for case buildup and, if barangay officials are found to be involved in the alleged animal cruelty at a Cavite animal pound, potentially to the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We will make sure that the local government units will be equipped to handle this. We will issue a memorandum circular to raise awareness about animal cruelty and remind everyone about the relevant laws, especially regarding city pounds,” the Department of the Interior and Local Government chief told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

His statement follows a letter from Sherrie Hinojales-Matthews, president of the animal welfare advocacy group Strategic Power for Animal Respondents, which highlighted alleged violations of animal welfare laws in Dasmariñas City.

Hinojales-Matthews wrote on March 18 that a cat owner had been searching for her missing pet for about two weeks. The pet owner was directed to a farm owned by Jeffrey Frani, the village chief of San Jose, who had converted a portion of his land into an impounding center.

Yvette Mayo, an animal rescuer in the community, was informed by the owner and subsequently discovered the cruelty. Mayo’s social media post, which featured photos and videos of the cats’ skeletal remains resorting to cannibalism due to starvation, went viral.

Abalos’s initiative is also partly motivated by the brutal killing of a dog named Killua, which sparked widespread outrage online. With the hashtag #JusticeForKillua, many netizens condemned Anthony Solares, a resident of Camarines Sur, who claimed that Killua chased his child.

However, CCTV footage shared by Vina Rachelle Arazas, Killua’s keeper, on Facebook, showed Solares chasing and hitting the dog as it tried to escape.

In a separate post, Arazas suggested that Killua was probably “anxious and stressed” because the dog was not accustomed to being alone outside. Killua was later found in a sack by his keepers.