Prior to this national anti-cruelty law being enacted, you could not charge any one for torturing or maltreating an animal. The closest crime you can charge a person who has hurt an animal is probably malicious mischief or file a civil case for damage or destruction to property. Animals are still classified as property under our laws.
Today, pounds can be charged for inhumane keeping of the animals. Three decades ago, there was no “problem” with euthanasia in pounds. The unclaimed dogs were miraculously all being ‘adopted’ and being given to the neighborhood drunkards. After all, killing dogs for their meat was not an illegal act prior to 1998. Sometime 2010, PAWS along with CARA and AKF, even exposed the tambucho-killing of the dogs in the pounds. The lack of a registered euthanasia drug for dogs and cats was an issue that advocates asked the BAI to look into as the methods of euthanasia came under close scrutiny.
It is hard to appreciate the gains won by the advocates then when social media has made acts of cruelty so ubiquitous – that there seems to be more cruelty now than before.
We agree that there was more cruelty then because there was no law, no one saying “that it is wrong” and definitely no spotlight or exposes that can be featured as socmed content.
CRUELTY IS PUNISHED UNDER THE LAW NOW
The animal welfare act punishes cruelty, torture or maltreatment of animals- all animals.
There is imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to P100,000 for the killing of an animal that isn’t among the exceptions.
And when the act is committed by a public officer or a syndicate or someone making business out of animal cruelty, the maximum penalty is increased to 3 yrs imprisonment and/ or a fine of P250,000.
There has been criticism that the law is ineffective but it is largely due to the misconception that cases can be filed on the basis of shared Facebook posts and videos alone. This is erroneous. No criminal case can be filed-and this is true for all laws violated - if no one with personal knowledge files an affidavit (unless of course, the criminal was caught in the act)
There is much ado about the Bureau of Animal Industry being undermanned- which is part of the problem, yes. But the agency can certainly do more. PAWS is a non-government, non-profit org with less than 10 staff members doing the filing of cases and looking into cruelty reports- and yet we remain the “go-to” agency and often mistaken for a government agency because we are able to do more with the little resources we have.
In all advanced countries with Animal Welfare laws, it is the Department of agriculture in charge of it, the same agency that governs animal industries. Budgets and plantillas play a great part, yes, but there is much that the Department of Agriculture and BAI can do with the law that is already in place.
There is a provision to tap Animal Welfare Enforecement Officers or AWEOs, which they aren’t tapping or even deputizing.
An amendment will improve the law but the elephant in the room is- is the Bureau of Animal Industry doing enough with the law now? There has been a call to convene the Committee on Animal Welfare and this has not been done in almost two years now.
STILL AN UPHILL CLIMB
Animal advocates have their work cut out for them. There is a lot of online misinformation. The greater challenge is harnessing the strength of advocates who are well informed about the law and about how animal cruelty can be stopped at the root.
We can save more animals by investing in spay-neuter work and by educating ourselves on how we can be part of townhall discussions with government officials and other stakeholders. Anger and passion can only get us to a certain level but strategic programs and collaboration will help us solve many of the ills that cause animal suffering.
The author is the executive director of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society.
