EVERY day, we encounter a stray cat or dog dodging cars, looking for food in trash, battling malnutrition and sickness, and fighting for their lives.
These strays do not have voice to speak and sadly, they are still neglected as a member of the society. It now becomes a great problem around the city, as more strays roam the streets.
Stray animals do not occur randomly; it is a symptom of human negligence and ignorance on how to take good care of pets. Irresponsible pet ownership is one of the main reasons for the occurrence of stray dogs or cats.
The typical strays in the country are domesticated animals that once were a family pet, but thrown out on the streets when owners can no longer provide for their needs such as food and medication. In line with this, we also have a result of intact pets who are allowed to roam around the streets and simply go home as they please.
These intact pets mate with other animals, get pregnant and give birth to more unwanted animals. And the cycle continues. People’s ignorance on spay-neuter or kapon are likely the cause.
The Philippine government should revise and strongly implement the Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act, which state that it shall be unlawful for any person to neglect, to provide adequate care, sustenance, shelter or maltreat any animals, and to procure animals to be tortured.
Higher punishment of any person who violate of this act should be done. Six months to two years imprisonment with fines are not enough.
Furthermore, the government should fund more spay-neuter program not just an anti-rabies vaccination, because every effort taken to spay a pet or strays translate to preventing the birth of unwanted animals and could surely save lives. (Renalou Dimpas, UM intern)