A RE-INSPECTION has been conducted at the Happy Animals Shelter Club, which was ordered to be closed by the City Health Office (CHO).
The CHO and City Veterinarian's Office (CVO) had already made their re-inspection at the shelter at around 1 p.m. on October 20.
The Animal Shelter Club said they "are confident and hopeful that all concerns raised by Davao City Health Office (CHO) can be resolved".
In a statement sent to SunStar Davao, the animal shelter expressed hope that concerns will be solved, as they had always "worked very hard to maintain the highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness".
The animal shelter was ordered to be permanently closed by the City Government of Davao due to "odor and noise nuisance", and recommended that the animals at the shelter "be transferred" after two failed attempts of ocular inspections.
Meanwhile, CHO told SunStar Davao that a report will be made. They, however, declined to answer further queries regarding the recent inspection.
Where it all started
The CHO said it had received several separate complaints against the animal shelter, claiming that it has “an odor and noise nuisance”, prompting several warnings and attempts of inspections.
“Naa’y nag-lodge og complaint, duha ka individuals against sa Happy Animals Club, so mao na siya ang basis namo na niadto ang inspector para to determine the veracity of the complaint (Two different individuals lodged complaints against the animal shelter, that’s our basis that our inspector went there to determine the veracity of the complaints),” Luzminda Paig, CHO-Sanitation Division Chief, said over the Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on October 20.
Paig said that even Matina Aplaya barangay captain Nestor Cirunay endorsed to CHO a complaint with six signatories from individuals “who were not related to each other” against the animal shelter.
Paig said that the inspector from the CHO was not allowed entry twice while attempting to inspect the animal shelter. Two attempts of inspection were made on May 26 and July 31 this year.
“Wala man kasulod ang inspector, naa lang siya sa gawas, nasimhotan niya ang baho ug nabal-an niya unsa kasaba (The inspector was not able to go inside the shelter. But from the outside, he already smelled the foul odor and enable to determine how noisy it was),” Paig said.
“Wala siya nakasulod, kay wala siya gipasulod… Walay nag-assist [sa inspector], nga naay daghang iro sa gawas, nga daghang iro pod, mga tulo yata ‘to [ang nag-atang] (He was not able to enter because he wasn't allowed to enter. No one assisted the inspector and there were many dogs outside),” Paig added.
After two failed attempts to reinspect and the inspector experienced the same smell and nuisance, the CHO-Sanitation Division recommended closing the animal shelter “and transferring the animals to another place”.
“Actually ang tag-iya niadto na na siya sa CHO, pero ang gusto unta sa inspector maayos gyud siya, kanang dili na modako (Actually, the owner of the shelter went to CHO, but what the inspector wanted to have it mutually fixed, so that the issue won't get even worse),” Paig said.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the City Government of Davao said the decision on the facility’s closure in violation of City Ordinance No. 0291-17 under the Revenue Code of Davao City, particularly the rules and regulations on sanitation will remain as it is, “to look after the health and wellness of the concerned constituents of the said area”.
“The City Government of Davao will likewise look into the allegations on the matter of impartiality in dealing with this complaint. This will not be taken lightly. An investigation will be conducted within our ranks to ensure integrity and truth in all our undertakings in the local government,” the statement wrote.
‘Dogs will not be killed’ - CHO
Paig also clarified that the dogs that were being recommended to be transferred will never be killed in the dog pound. The closure meant to “only stop operations” of the animal shelter, hence, their recommendation states to “only transfer the more or less 200 to 300 animals”.
It can be recalled that Ken Amante, owner of the animal shelter, said in a Facebook video that they cannot rescue any other animal anymore due to orders from the local government to permanently close the shelter.
He said that officials of the City Health Office (CHO), who padlocked the animal shelter, said “they will confiscate their animals and take them to the dog pound”.
“Dili gyud na tinuod, wala gyud ing-ana. Ang recommendation namo is i-transfer ang mga dogs [from the animal shelter] (That's not true, our recommendation is to transfer the dogs from the animal shelter),” Paig said about Ken Amante’s statement.
“Dili pud mi anang killing sa dogs… Dili man ta against anang magbuhi ta og iro, pero dapat in accordance sa law nato, walay nuisance na mahitabo (We are not in favor of killing dogs... We are not against raising dogs, but it should be in accordance with our laws, and there should be no nuisance happening),” the chief added.
She also recommended having a dialogue between them and the animal shelter to have the animals settled.
The closure of the animal shelter went viral after Amante posted a video on their Facebook page, expressing his concern that the closure is “harassment”, and was motivated by a “baseless complaint” filed by their neighbors. ICE
