Senator Mark Villar on Thursday expressed concern about the increasing cases of animal abandonment in the country.

Villar has filed a proposed measure strengthening the adoption of stray and impounded animals. Senate Bill 2257 seeks the provision of incentives to those who would adopt stray and impounded animals to lessen abandonment cases. 

Citing data from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society, Villar underscored the need to improve the government's program for rescuing abandoned animals. 

According to PAWS, there were around 12 million stray cats and dogs in 2019, which are either logged as former family pets or those who have reproduced in the streets due to lack of proper shelter.

Villar said the rising numbers of abandoned animals remain highly disproportionate to the support they ought to receive. 

"This 12 million number of strays we have in record was back in 2019. Apat na taon na po ang nakalipas. With the pandemic placing a great burden to Filipinos, we can only expect na mas dumami na po ang mga stray animals na walang proper care and shelter," Villar said.

"We must act on this and extend our aid in securing safe animal shelters," he said. 

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA said animal homelessness in the Philippines "has reached a crisis point" as stray animals struggle to live unsupervised in the streets and impounded ones are euthanized every month in municipal pounds. 

The unfortunate fates of strays and impounded animals are due to the limited resources of both public and private shelters, it added. 

Villar cited the case of a certain local government unit in the National Capital Region which previously reported that its city pound captures an average of 200 stray animals weekly, yet "they do not have sufficient resources to maintain their care."

Villar stressed the need to exhaust all means to ensure that proper aid is given to animals left in shelters. 

"My heart goes to these animals who are forced to these unfortunate living situations, and some of them to their untimely deaths because they cannot be cared for. Bilang isang animal lover at pet welfare advocate, I will do my best to lessen these rising numbers of strays and euthanized impounded animals," he said. 

SB 2257 or the Act Strengthening the Adoption of Stray and Impounded Animals, seeks to encourage the adoption of stray and impounded animals by providing tax incentive benefits to any individual or group that shall adopt stray and impounded animals, to reduce cases of euthanasia for stray and impounded animals.

The bill also outlines the provision for adoption, highlighting the role of LGUs in facilitating the implementation of animal adoption programs. 

"Through this bill, we are hoping that the number of strays and impounded animals will decrease as it will provide guidelines for adoptions in close coordination with LGUs," Villar said. 

"We are also looking forward to more Filipinos who will be encouraged to adopt, not just because of the tax incentives this bill provides, but also because of their love and care for animals," he added.

The senator lamented that while there are multiple non-government organizations and private shelters that encourage the adoption of rescued animals, "the pet adoption rate in the country remains at a concerning low rate, less than one percent in particular."

"I hope that the bill will increase the adoption rate of stray pets so as to ensure that animals will be brought up in comfortable homes rather than being forced to survive in the streets," said Villar.