City destroys gas chamber

CEBU, Philippines – Personnel of the Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine yesterday destroyed the improvised gas chamber that they used in the past years to kill stray dogs. City Veterinarian Alice Utlang, however, expects the City's campaign against rabies to be more effective starting next year after officials of the Humane Society International (HSI) pledged to give them financial assistance worth US$250,000 or P1.075 million.

Aside from the financial assistance, HSI Director Kelly O'mera had also promised to provide the city with the needed drugs.

"Gawas nga manakop ta og mga laag nga iro, duna ta karo'y gikuha nga duha ka bagong veterinarian nga ang trabaho mao ra ang pagpangapon sa mga laki nga iro ug pag-ligate sa mga baye nga iro aron dili na mosanay," Utlang said.

In other countries, stray dogs are being rounded up using nets but Cebu City has been using wires that are painful for the animals.

Such practice will no longer be applied by the Cebu City pound personnel. Instead of using the "gas chamber" in killing the dogs, Utlang said the dogs will be injected with two milligrams of pentobarbital, a kind of anesthesia, to put them to sleep.

Because the amount injected will be more than the usual dosage, the anesthesia itself would act as poison, she explained.

Utlang admitted that using the "gas chamber" was a cruel way of killing the animals although this was reportedly approved by the country's Animal Welfare Committee. (FREEMAN)