Animals left in battle zone get attention

A dog eats the carcass of a cat on a street littered with rubbish where soldiers patrol, while military planes and helicopters continue the relentless bombing of Islamist militants hidden in other homes a kilometer (half a mile) away. AFP PHOTO

MARAWI CITY — Shocked by reports that stray dogs have been feeding on human carcasses in the war zone here, a group has started pooling its resources to feed abandoned animals in this city, where government troops have been battling terrorists since May 23.

Dr. Dahlia Molo-Valera, Iligan City veterinarian, said the Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) had sent 35 packs of dog food to feed abandoned pets and stray animals here.

Valera said AKF had partnered with her office to feed the animals that residents left as they fled Marawi when members of the Maute terror group and Abu Sayyaf bandits took over sections of the city.

Military estimates pegged the death toll in the ongoing conflict at 400. The bodies of several fatalities had not been retrieved from sections of Marawi still held by terrorists.

Zia Alonto-Adiong, spokesperson for the Lanao del Sur provincial crisis management committee, said survivors recounted to them stories of dogs feasting on cadavers on the streets of Marawi.

“Yes, it has been happening,” Adiong said. “A lot of them saw how dogs devoured the cadavers lying on the streets.”

Netizens and animal rights advocates have started a campaign to raise funds or gather food for abandoned pets and stray animals here.

In a local television interview, Desiree Carlos said her group, Save Animals of Love and Light, took dog food from their shelters to feed the starving animals in Marawi.

“We hope we can send more. Relief goods [sent to Marawi] do not include food for animals,” she said.

Valera said her group asked authorities to allow volunteers of the city veterinarian’s office to round up stray animals and abandoned pets in Marawi.

“But the military said there were still areas [that soldiers had yet to clear] so they could not give us clearance to do that,” she told the Inquirer by phone.

She feared that these animals, unless rounded up, would return to feed on cadavers again.

“I think we can really round them up if the crisis is already over,” Valera said.

Journalists covering the conflict here have volunteered to help feed the animals in areas that had already been declared by the military to be clear of terrorists.