Mall security guard faces animal cruelty raps for throwing puppy to death

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City Prosecutors Office has recommended the filing of an an animal cruelty charge against the mall security guard who threw a puppy from an elevated footbridge in Quezon City in July 2023.

In a four-page resolution by Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Diovie Macaraig-Calderon, Jojo Malicdem, the respondent in the animal cruelty complaint, is set to face charges for violating Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act of 1998. These charges stem from the death of the puppy that he threw.

“In the instant case, there is sufficient evidence to prove that respondent indeed committed a violation of the aforementioned law as he has caused maltreatment upon an animal resulting to its death,” the resolution read.  

“There can be no doubt that the object thrown was the puppy as there was no other object seen in the photograph picked up or held by another person,” it added.

Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 said:

Any person who subjects any animal to cruelty, maltreatment or neglect shall, upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment and/or fine as indicated in the following graduated scale.

Malicdem may suffer one to two years imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding P100,000 if found guilty. 

The prosecutor also recommended a P12,000 bail for Malicdem’s temporary liberty. 

The incident happened on July 11, 2023, when Malicdem was seen by the complainant, Janine Santos, tossing the puppy from a footbridge in Quezon City. 

Malicdem denied the incident, saying that he was merely responding to several calls for assistance from his co-security officers in addressing the removal of illegal vendors and beggars on the footbridge.

He said that one of the puppy’s owners shoved it into his face. Malicdem claimed that he tried to push the puppy away from his face upon feeling something sharp against his skin.

Believing he was bitten, he forcefully pushed the teenager's hand holding the puppy, inadvertently causing the puppy to be thrown off the railing.

However, the fiscal said that Santos, being the witness, clearly narrated the incident and submitted the proof of it through photographs. 

Joining Santos as the complainant is the Philippine Animal Welfare Society.