2 charged over frozen dog meat found in Laguna home

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

SAN PEDRO CITY, Laguna — A non-government animal welfare group filed charges, on Thursday afternoon, against two persons allegedly responsible for the slaughter of at least 44 dogs in this city in Laguna province.

The Quezon City-based Network for Animals headed by Melchor Alipio filed cases against suspect Roberto “Carson” Medina Jr. and his brother Ronette for violating the Animal Welfare and the Anti-Rabies
Acts.

This was after authorities found 44 dead dogs placed inside three chest-type freezers in the suspects’ home in Barangay San Roque before noon last Tuesday. The authorities also rescued five live dogs, which Alipio suspected were being readied for slaughter.

In a phone interview Thursday, Alipio said a tipster informed them about several dogs muzzled and caged in the Medinas’ residence.

“We conducted (a surveillance) for three days,” he said. He believed the dog meat were supposed to be transported the next day to Baguio City where several restaurants served them as a dish.

Alipio, who founded the group in 2005, said a kilo of dog meat sold P140 in Baguio City.

Alipio said the Medina brothers, usually on board a tricycle, collected stray dogs for the underground market. The suspects, however, had escaped just before the police arrived.

The dog meat, about 300 kilos in total, were buried in the city’s public cemetery while the rescued animals were brought to the custody of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Quezon City for rehabilitation.

Alipio said they were working on the arrest of known dog meat traders in Padre Garcia and Ibaan in Batangas province. Penalties for violating the animal welfare laws include a fine of more than P200,000 and one-year imprisonment.  SFM