Animal welfare group: Dogs should have no place on the table

Dear Professor Ocampo,

Greetings from Animal Kingdom Foundation, Inc.!

We are the Animal Kingdom Foundation, Inc., (AKF), an animal welfare organization leading the campaign to eliminate the trade of dogs for human consumption. Our campaigns and programs seek solutions against animal cruelty and aim to protect animals from cruel and inhumane treatment.

We are writing you in relation to your column last Dec. 14 wherein the title so obviously and horrifically states, “How to cook dog.”

While we admire your work in Philippine history and culture and we recognize that you are a seasoned author, we would like to shed light on your purpose in writing the article and in such detail during a time that there is a rising consciousness on animal welfare among Filipinos.

It may be true that dogs have been consumed during the exercise of religious rituals, but a closer look at the reason why dogs are used for such religious rituals or tribal customs may have given the readers a broader perspective on these practices.

Dogs are indeed man’s best friend and should not have any place “on the table.” In fact, the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 10536 or the National Meat Inspection Service Code have mentioned that dogs and even cat meat are declared hot meat.

Our organization has been campaigning to eliminate the cruel trade of dogs for human consumption. With the raised awareness of animal welfare and the support of our local government and agencies, and a National Plan of Action to Eliminate the Cruel Trade of Dogs for Meat in place, we have taken major strides in dwindling the numbers of this inhumane act. The article, coming from an authority on history and political affairs, could put behind years of hard work to end this cruel practice in the country. With the detailed instructions for cooking, the manner in which dogs were presented in the article may manifest a complete disregard and insensitivity to the life and welfare of dogs as man’s best friend.

Professor Ocampo, the very fact that Nick Joaquin, a gourmand and connoisseur of “asocena,” did not see it fit for this material to be woven into a full article or column during the time when animal welfare was just a thought and not a fact and a law as yet, it may help to reevaluate the rationale for this article to be written.

In view thereof and considering the horrifying and disturbing content of your article, we condemn the same for whatever rhyme and reason you may think you have under the circumstances. We wish to emphasize that animal welfare should be promoted. In fact, compassion and responsibility to animals have been highlighted not just in schools, but in various aspects of animal use including farm animals. Animal welfare has been considered internationally to have a significant impact in contributing to human health and well-being, as well as in promoting biodiversity and environmental conservation. Your article, sadly, represented no value toward this end other than instigating a false sense of affirmation or acceptance that it is okay to eat dogs, similarly “cute and cuddly,” a man’s best friend for that matter.

AKF decries any form of violence and abuse of animals, especially promoting it on social media, where the reach is wide, and the comprehension, questionable and morally ambiguous.

HEIDI A. MARQUEZ-CAGUIOA,

program director,

Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc.