Caring for strays

It was understandable for those with zero or passing empathy for animals why residents of barangay Mohon, Talisay City defended Alfred Alindao’s decision to throw acid on two roaming dogs which caused their death a week ago.

Alindao said he threw acid after the two dogs chased him and his wife while they were riding bicycles down a road, getting injured as a result. That would make anyone pack something to defend himself or herself but Alindao wanted to get even.

Alindao eventually got summoned by the barangay officials, who accepted his explanation and he walked away with not even a slap on the wrist. But animal welfare groups in Cebu and online social media networking sites would have none of that.

Republic Act (RA) 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 prohibits any person from torturing or maltreating any animal and violators can be punished by imprisonment of at least six months to a maximum of two years or a fine of P1,000 to a maximum P5,000 or both at the court’s discretion.

A House Bill 6893 providing heavier penalties was approved on the last session day of the 15th Congress. Not all residents of barangay Mohon approved of Alindao’s act but they still accepted his explanation on the promise that he won’t do it again.

But there’s no iron clad assurance he would after he escaped punishment that should have been enforced by local officials. These same barangay officials aren’t exactly interested in antagonizing a lot of voters with the barangay elections a few months away.

Thus it would have to be the Cebu South Dog Club, who said they will tap groups like the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), to press their case against Alindao. But it doesn’t have to be their fight alone.

We wonder if the same online community that voiced condemnation against the acid attack on the two dogs can be counted on to ventilate their support to the complaint. For no matter how much Alindao enjoys immediate support for his actions, what he did was very wrong.

Unlike human beings who are gifted with intelligence, instinct, self-awareness and a conscience, dogs and the rest of God’s creatures have to make their way in the world on instinctual knowledge alone.

That means having to survive in a world on whatever comes their way, which in the case of the roaming dogs mean making do with the scraps that these same people who condoned Alindao’s crime offer to them.

Unlike Alindao, who could have chosen to report the incident to the local officials, they don’t have a choice other than protecting their own and surviving in the urban jungle populated by their more knowledgeable neighbors.

We hope these same residents and the public in general offer a more sympathetic and caring attitude to these roaming dogs, who do what they do through no fault of their own.