Rescued dogs at Taguig City pound up for adoption

Some of the dogs at the Taguig City pound which are ready to be adopted. MARICAR B. BRIZUELA

TAGUIG residents who want to open their homes and hearts to a canine companion can now adopt an “aspin” or asong Pinoy from the city pound.

The adoption program, recently launched by the City Veterinary Office, is part of the local government’s mission to promote animal welfare.

“These rescued dogs deserve new homes with caring families. This initiative expresses the intention of the city [government to ensure] that every ‘Bantay’ has a right to be taken care of,” Mayor Lani Cayetano said in a statement.

Of the 49 rescued dogs currently housed at the Taguig City pound, six are ready for adoption, having undergone a socialization process to make them easy to handle.

“They have gotten used to daily interactions with the four wardens that look after [them] 24 hours a day,” City Veterinarian Alex Siblag told the Inquirer in a recent interview.

Three of the six dogs were rescued from the same owner. During the Inquirer’s visit to the city pound on Cayetano Avenue, they were playful and active, occasionally going up to visitors and the wardens to be petted.

Siblag said that most of the rescues in the animal control facility were strays or had been abandoned by their owners for various reasons.

“Some [people] contacted us and asked us to get their dogs because they could not handle their aggressive behavior anymore,” he explained.

But in most cases, the dogs were left to fend for themselves after their owners lost interest in them since they were no longer the cute puppies they used to be.

At the moment, most of the rescues do not have names yet although they have been tagged based on the color of their fur and the date they were taken to the pound.

“Eventually, we want to give them names so we can post their photos on a Facebook page to encourage residents to welcome them to their homes,” Siblag said.

To facilitate the adoption process, guidelines are now being finalized. To qualify, adopters must be a resident of Taguig. They will be required to visit the city pound twice, file out application forms and submit themselves to a background check.

“Animals will only be released to those who will meet the adoption criteria. The whole adoption process is totally free,” Siblag said, adding that a maximum of two pets per household would be set.

According to him, a background investigation is very important because there were previous cases of some adopted dogs ending up on the butcher’s block.

Aside from the adult dogs, Siblag said there were also nine puppies in need of loving owners. At the moment, however, they were still too young and would be adopted out once they reach two months.

According to him they were also looking into the possibility of having some of the dogs undergo training to join the K9 Unit of the Taguig City police.