A VIDEO showing a woman torturing a dog and supposedly taken in Cagayan de Oro City is making the rounds in social media.
The video, a minute and four seconds long, shows a woman in red high heels and black dress burning a bound dog with a blowtorch.
It is unclear when the video was made or if it was indeed made in the city but a policeman at the Philippine National Police’s anti-cybercrime unit said they have not received reports pertaining to the viral video.
Police Officer 2 Ritchil Manabo of the Regional Philippine National Police Anti-Cyber Crime Group said they will begin investigating once a complaint is filed at the Anti-Cyber Crime complaints desk.
"This is truly a case of animal cruelty and the perpetrator will hopefully be tracked down by our office. We are requesting the assistance of anyone especially the other offices and agencies concerned in the city to help us in finding the violators of this animal's rights," said Juliet Araos, the Regulatory Division Chief of the Department of Agriculture primarily concerned with cases of animal rights violations.
The Department of Agriculture Regulatory Division has started their investigation in finding the people involved in the video.
Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Law penalizes "any person who subjects any animal to cruelty, maltreatment or neglect shall, upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment and/or fine."
The penalties include Imprisonment of one (1) year and six (6) months and one (1) day to two (2) years and/or fine not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) if the animal subjected to cruelty, maltreatment, or neglect dies.
Abusers are also liable for Imprisonment of one (1) year and one (1) day to one (1) year and six (6) months and/or a fine not exceeding Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) if the animal subjected to cruelty, maltreatment or neglect survives but is severely injured with loss of its natural faculty to survive on its own and needing human intervention to sustain its life; and Imprisonment of six (6) months to one (1) year and/or fine not exceeding Thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00) for subjecting any animal to cruelty, maltreatment or neglect but without causing its death or incapacitating it to survive on its own.