Employee who went viral for feeding stray dogs, cats ‘fired from work’

Screengrab from the Baldawgs Facebook account

MANILA, Philippines — A viral food server who feeds stray dogs and cats has been “traumatized” after allegedly being forced to resign from work.

In a post that went viral, a Facebook page named “Baldawgs” shared a video of him feeding a stray dog outside of an establishment. The text in the video says: “Dahil lang sa pagpapakain ko sa isang ASPIN, Tinanggal ako sa trabaho ko.”

Screengrab from a video post of Baldawgs on Facebook

The owner of the Facebook page, Ian Vhal Sardia, said that he will still continue to help stray dogs and cats by feeding them and making them happy in his own special way.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Sardia recounted the events leading to him losing his job.

Getting the notice

Sardia said he was being asked to come to the office on September 26, for a reason initially unknown to him. He then tried to ask his human resource (HR) officer what the agenda would be, but did not divulge.

He said that he sent a screenshot of their conversation to their group chat that angered the HR officer. The HR officer then told him that it was supposed to be a private matter.

Sardia then said that he went to the office upon getting the message. He narrated how the HR officer became mad toward him as he was asked to write an explanation letter of the incident of him feeding a stray dog outside an establishment.

“Hindi niya po inexplain nang maayos hanggang sa pag-upo, pinapagawa niya ako ng explanation letter na nung umpisa, bago niya po ako tawagan, pinagawa niya po ako ng handwritten explanation letter.

(The HR officer did not explain properly and when they sat down, they asked me to write an explanation letter that at first, when they called me, they asked me to do a handwritten explanation letter.)

The 26-year-old former food server shared that after explaining his side in the letter, the HR officer then showed him a paper where he said that he was being forced to sign.

“Hindi ko na po binasa. Pero si kumpanya raw po ay binabalik na ako sa agency dahil sa ginawa ko na disrespect at unsanitize po… Termination na po yun pero hindi raw po.,” he added.

(I did not read. But the company is transferring me back to the agency because of the disrespect and unsanitized (practice)… That is termination but they said that it is not.)

Sardia said that he did not receive any verbal warning or any level of suspension. He also said that he is part of the agency, and not an employee of the establishment.

“Ang usapan po sabi niya is handwritten explanation letter wala po siyang sinabi sa akin na procedure po na ganito na verbal warning na wala man lang verbal warning na may first or second suspension,” he said.

(Our talk is that I would make a handwritten explanation letter but they did not tell me the procedure or verbal warning or first and second suspension.)

Sardia also narrated how he was not allowed to leave the room, and the HR officer asked someone else to guard the door of the room where he was staying.

Resignation or termination?

Sardia knew he was being terminated, but the HR officer told him that it was not, and he was just being redirected to another company.

“Binigyan po ako ng kopya na sige ganito na lang para di ka maging bad record sa kumpanya mo, bibigyan na lang kita ng resignation letter na kokopyahan mo para pag pumunta po ako sa kumpanya ko, sabihin ko po na di po ako tinanggal at di po ako pinag-initan ng agency,” Sardia said.

(I was given a copy, and they said that it would be for me to not have a bad record in the company and I would be given a copy for me to tell the company that I was not terminated and the agency did not get mad at me.)

He also said he was crying to the point that he could not hold the pen anymore.

“Hanggang sa napilitan na lang po akong pumirma sa resignation,” he noted.

(Until I was just forced to sign the resignation.)

Sardia shared that he left the office without a copy of the resignation letter.

As he went home, he decided to post on Facebook about the incident that had happened to him. It was posted on September 27 and instantly gained hundreds of thousands of reactions and thousands of comments.

Many netizens were sympathizing with Sardia, telling him that he did nothing wrong and he was just being kind to the stray animals. On the other hand, some netizens were saying that sanitary policies should be upheld in establishments.

“Tumatawag po si HR na nang-away po sa akin then 5 pm tumawag, nag long message po sa akin si HR na… pinapadelete niya po sa akin, pwede raw po akong kasuhan ng cyberlibel. Then may abogado na raw po sila… nananakot po na pwede raw po nila akong kasuhan… doon po ako lalong natrauma sa ginawa na nagmessage,” he said.

(The HR that got mad at me called at 5 p.m. and sent a long message… They were asking me to delete [the video] because I could face cyberlibel charges. Then they have a lawyer already… They were telling me that I could face charges… It made me more traumatized.)

Losing his job as a breadwinner

Sardia shared that he is the breadwinner of their family. As he is working for the agency for five years already, he helps his mother isn financing her medications.

He also said that he might be okay now, but he is still not ready to look for other jobs despite receiving offers from many people.

“Hindi po ako makapagdecide sa ngayon dahil sa nangyari po sa aking trauma… Ilang araw na po akong di kumakain. Di pa po ako handa sa trabaho o bumalik… parang ayaw ko pa po munang bumalik,” he added.

(I cannot decide yet because of the trauma that happened to me… I haven’t eaten for days. I am not yet ready to go back to work… I feel like not wanting to go back [to work] anytime soon.)