Groups helping hero dog owners get visa to US

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Animal welfare groups and individuals are working on how to get the owners of Kabang, the dog that became hero when it threw itself between two girls and a speeding motorcycle, to join their pet in the United States where Kabang is to get surgery to restore its upper snout.

The owners—Rudy Bunggal and his wife, Christina—have no birth certificates to use in applying for a passport and visa to go to the States.

Dr. Anton Lim, of the Tzu Chi Foundation here, said his group was trying its best to help the couple.

Lim said it was important for Kabang to have either Rudy or his wife by its side during the surgery in California because it would hasten the dog’s recovery.

Kabang was so attached to its owners that one of them should be with the dog, he said.

But it seems red tape is a hindrance.

Lim said Rudy had gone to the National Statistics Office here to secure a copy of his birth certificate but was advised to return to the place where his birth had been originally registered.

The Bunggals originally came from Bogo in Cebu but migrated to Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay when Rudy was 9 years old.—Julie Alipala