CITING alleged abuses of spay and neuter services, the Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF) will conduct these services directly in the barangays.
DVMF head Dr. Alice Utlang explained that this decision was made because some individuals were bringing pets owned by people living outside the city to take advantage of the department’s services.
Utlang said that by directing the services to the barangays rather than the DVMF office, real pet owners from Cebu City would receive them.
The veterinarian announced on her Facebook page Friday, April 11, 2025, that DVMF will no longer hold “Iro and Iring Day,” an event when pet owners can avail themselves of the department’s services.
Utlang urged the public in the same post to ask their respective barangays about the schedule for the spay and neuter services.
Utlang acknowledged that anesthesia in the country is low in supply.
“So, to avoid running out, especially since anesthesia is scarce in the Philippines, it’s better if we directly service the barangays, so we can clearly see who are from Cebu City,” she told SunStar Cebu in a mix of Cebuano and English on Saturday, April 12.
When asked for the number of non-Cebu City residents who availed themselves of the spay and neuter services, Utlang said that they had not recorded it.
Utlang recommended that local government units (LGUs) offer spay and neuter services.
“Other LGUs, including Cebu Province, should have services like what Cebu City has aron di sila moari sa amoa, manikas (so they won’t come here and deceive us),” she said. / JPS