Court convicts dog killers in Rizal

After almost two years of court hearings, two brothers who beat to death a leashed dog in front of its owner have been convicted by the municipal trial court of Rodriguez, Rizal province.

Christopher and Gilbert Babe had been accused of violating the Animal Welfare Act after they beat up Kevin, the pet of Marian Yutuc, from  Kasiglahan Village in Rodriguez.

Yutuc claimed that on the evening of Nov. 29, 2009, Christopher, apparently drunk, had thrown rocks at Kevin, claiming the dog had bit him.

This prompted Gilbert to beat the dog with a plank while Christopher stabbed the animal even as Yutuc told the brothers to stop.

Yutuc said that prior to the killing, the brothers had been urging her to give them the dog, the family pet for around four years, for “pulutan.”

The prosecution had recommended six months’ imprisonment for the brothers, though they are now out on bail.

Yutuc said that after they filed criminal complaints against the brothers, they had been lying low and had been attending to their work as pedicab driver and construction worker.

Sought for a reaction on the brothers being able to post bail, Yutuc said she was leaving everything to God.

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society, who had assisted Yutuc through the case, nevertheless, hailed the decision of Judge Apollo S. Mantala.

“If they violate the conditions of their probation, the penalty of imprisonment can be executed,” said Anna Cabrera, PAWS executive director, quoting the Rodriguez MTC clerk of court.