Reporter's Notebook talks about dog killing

Last night I was horrified while watching Reporters' Notebook on GMA7. One of their show's highlight was “Death Sentence for Dogs”. That in some provinces down south dogs are sentenced to death through gas chamber. According to some government officials they are threatened about the rabies spread to human nevertheless; really, I don’t find these acts acceptable and humane. Being a dog lover I highly opposed these practices. They are so mean! I hope they will not find themselves being a dog on their next life!

I googled earlier about this activity in Mindanao and found a related post. Read more…

Dogs are easy to kill

By Annabelle L. Ricalde

FIRST, there were loud yelping and barking as the steel cage was slid into the gas chamber made of wood and hard flex sheets. An employee of the City Pound Office quickly mounted the chamber and locked its door. Another worker inserted a six-meter long black hose into a hole on top of chamber.

At his signal, the engines were started and steady steam of black smoke streamed into the hose and then to the chamber.

In 40 minutes, the yelping and the barking ceased: The dog was dead.

In this city of man, dogs, his best friend, are put to death by gassing, electrocution or simply by drowning them in a drum full of water.

Dr. Allan Blanco, city pound officer of the City Veterinary Office, said two dozens of stray dogs are exterminated to prevent a rabies epidemic from breaking in Cagayan de Oro. Philippines currently ranks fourth worldwide in incidence of the rabies disease and is increasing, despite government promises to rid the country of the problem by 2020.

In 1998, 362 Filipinos died of rabies, compared with 321 in 1997 and 337 in 1996. About 10,000 dogs are believed infected with the disease each year. Figures for rabies death in Cagayan de Oro are unavailable. City Health personnel have refused to provide the figures to Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro citing the confidentiality of the information. But in Butuan City, rabies deaths caused by dog bites have left 70 people in Caraga Region since 2002 up to now, the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) said. Blanco said most of the dogs they exterminated are strays after they were abandoned by their owners.

Carbon monoxide poisoning "Next to lethal injection, death by carbon monoxide is one of the humane ways to kill a dog," Blanco told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. He said the use of carbon monoxide is also affordable for the cash-strapped City Veterinary office. The City Veterinary office adopted the use of carbon monoxide early this month after Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro published a picture showing a dog being drowned to death in a drum of water. Prior to carbon monoxide poisoning, employees used wooden poles with ropes to string the dogs around their necks. The dogs were then lowered into the drums until they die. The City Veterinary office also experimented by electrocuting the dogs, according to Dr. Perla Asis, City Veterinary Officer. Asis said they are experimenting with various ways to exterminate stray dogs inexpensively because the City Government provided its office with enough money. Most of these experiments are done on dogs, she said. She assured they conducted the experiment in accordance to the Animal Welfare Act of 1998. Blanco, for his part, denied they tried electrocuting the dogs. "The plan did not push through, " he said. Still, a leading private veterinarian practitioner, Dr. Lorna Jamis said subjecting dogs to carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning and electrocution are cruel deaths for these animals considered to be man's best friend. Jamis said these methods do not cause instantaneous death and the dogs will still suffer. She urged the City Veterinary office to follow the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 when they terminate the dogs. Section 6 of Animal Welfare Act of 1998 said the killings of dogs, cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles " shall be done through humane procedures at all times." It said "humane procedures shall mean the use of the most scientific methods available as may be determined and approved by the Committee on Animal Welfare" which will be composed by representatives of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Interior and Local government (DILG), Department of Education (DepEd), Culture and Sports (Decs), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), National Meat Inspection Commission (NMIC), Philippine Veterinary Medical Association (PVMA), Philippine Animal Hospital Association of the Philippines (Paha), Philippine Animal Welfare Society (Paws), and Philippine Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA). The Welfare Act of 1998 also said it shall be unlawful for any person to kill or torture any animal using methods not authorize by the committee. Killings can be made, the law said "if it is done as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual required by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities; when the pet animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease as determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian ;) When the killing is deemed necessary to put an end to the misery suffered by the animal as determined and certified by a duly veterinarian; When it is done to prevent an imminent danger to the life or limb of a human being; and When done for the purpose of animal population control.

Lethal injection "For me, lethal injection is the best humane procedure because there is no struggle of the dog," Jamis told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. Jamis said with lethal injection, death would be instantaneous to the animals and would not subject them to pain. She said the City Veterinary office can use Pentobarbital, a short-acting barbiturate, and used in other countries for human euthanasia. "It put the animals to sleep until they are overcome with death. There is no struggle," Jamis said. Dr. Alfonso Ramosa, Misamis Oriental veterinary officer shared the same view with Jamis, saying lethal injection is the most humane way of putting away animals. But she said this method is very expensive and not all local governments can afford it. A 50cc of Pentobarbital cost about P4, 000, according to Jamis. Republic Act 9482 otherwise known as "Anti-Rabies Act of 2007" signed into law last May 25, 2007, specifies euthanasia as the method to be use for the "painless death to Dogs and other animals." The City Veterinary Office bury the dead dogs at the landfill area in Zayas, Barangay Carmen until they found out that some unscrupulous persons dug the graves and ate the animals. Asis said they stopped burying the dogs at the landfill area and persuaded the Department of Environment of Natural Office in Malasag, Barangay Malasag to accept the carcasses. "Nauyonan nga dalhon didto ang gipangpatay nga mga dogs aron himoon nga fertilizer sa mga kahoy," Asis said.

Rabies. The City Veterinary Office is in the forefront of the war against rabies disease. Senator Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate health committee, said 300 to 400 Filipinos die every year needlessly of a most dangerous yet most preventable disease. "They are part of the 115,223 people all over the country who were victims of dog bites. This translates to around 316 individuals bitten by a dog every day or 13 victims every hour in 2005. The number may even be bigger considering that many people who get bitten by dogs fail to seek treatment because of the high cost entailed, ranging from P5,000 to P30,000," Cayetano said. Unlike the Philippines, the countries of Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Fiji, Finland, Guam, Hawaii, Iceland, Ireland (Republic of), Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Martin (Netherlands Antilles), St. Pierre et Miquelon Islands, St. Vincent, Sweden, Taiwan, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), and Uruguay are considered rabies free. "The underlying problem is that public awareness of the disease remains poor and that dog owners are not taking up the offer of subsidized rabies immunizations," according to Dr. Jose Abella, director of the Department of Health's Communicable Disease Control Service in his published study. Another expert, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Miranda, head of the rabies research program at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) said: "surveillance of rabies, particularly in Asia, is inadequate and not given priority compared with other infectious disease like tuberculosis and malaria," deplores Dr. Miranda. Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha, a neurology professor at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand told a forum: "there is no political commitment towards rabies prevention and control. Unreliable data are related to limitations in diagnostic laboratories and the complexity of disease manifestations." Dogs may be infected with rabies virus in either the "furious" or the "dumb" form. Furious rabies is characterized by agitation and viciousness, followed by paralysis and finally death. "The animal's inability to swallow caused drooling of saliva," explains Dr. Jude Alon, a veterinarian working with the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC). In dumb rabies, paralytic symptoms predominate and are manifested by a dropped lower jaw, Dr. Alon said. He added that a dog afflicted with rabies "changes personality." This means a previously friendly dog becomes reclusive; a shy dog, aggressive. Victims of dog bites in dangerous sites such as the head, neck, face, fingertips and back should immediately be given rabies vaccine. "The nearer the site of the bite to the brain, the faster the movement of the virus," Dr. Alon said. "Ninety-five percent of rabies is from dog bites while the rest are from food such as animal liver and brain," said Senator Juan Flavier when he was still the health secretary. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed RA 9482 otherwise known as "Anti-Rabies Act of 2007" last May 25, 2007. The "Anti-Rabies Law specifies euthanasia as the method to be use for the "painless death to Dogs and other animals." The law also instructed the Department of Health (DOH) to "ensure the availability and adequate supply of pre-qualified human anti-rabies vaccine in animal bite treatment centers at all times. It also instructed the DOH to provide Post-Exposure Treatment at the minimum expense to individuals bitten by animals suspected of being rabid which will consist of the initial vaccine and immunoglobulin dose." Still people rely on remedies like garlic or "tandok" (suction, using carabao horn or animal bone) in treating dog bites. "The rabies virus allows no survivors, and the victim dies a slow, horrible death. If you "survived" a dog bite, it was because the dog was not rabid in the first place," a health expert said.