Be responsible pet owners

A week ago, I found a box of cat litter at a public market while waiting for my mother to complete her weekly marketing. Three newborn kittens with cords still intact were inside the box, with two other older kittens.

After a short mental debate, I finally relented and brought them home. How could coldhearted people leave helpless newborn kittens with two older siblings in a box in a public market

with so much foot and vehicular traffic?!

Driving along C5 gives me a heartbreak and headache as well. There’s always a kitten or an adult cat bound to be seen, walking the whole stretch of the island.

It is only a matter of time for them to cross the street looking for food and get killed by passing cars.

I wish people become more compassionate and caring to their pet cats and dogs, to take care of them and not abandon them. This is why it’s very important for pet owners to spay and neuter their pets, especially cats, which multiply rapidly. It is the only way we can curb the overpopulation of stray cats.

Section 7 of the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 states that “It shall be unlawful for any person who has custody of an animal to abandon the animal.”

Sadly, a lot of people still get away with it. The law should be given more teeth, and people should be educated on how to become responsible pet owners.

The animal welfare community, of which I am a member, is already spread too thinly  with numerous calls for rescue. We cannot take in every stray cat or dog that we see.

May hangganan din ang kapasidad namin, pinansyal, espasyo at pang-unawa ng mga kasama sa bahay.

Let us all do our share, please.

PAMELA I. CLAVERIA, MD, Parañaque City