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.