No more cruelty

Pepsi, my adopted Puspin (pusang Pinoy) was spayed last Monday.  I had her stay at the Philippine Animal Welfare (PAWS) shelter for the week because I want to make sure that she is fully recovered when we take her home.

We miss her at home and look forward to seeing her soon.

* * *

I am happy to report that that the Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF), Compassion and Responsibility towards Animals (CARA) Welfare Philippines and PAWS have gotten together to together bring relief to the oft-neglected working animal in the city — the caritelahorse. With the sponsorship of international animal welfare newspaper, animal people — the three groups were able to conduct an outreach program for Intramuros horses at the Intramuros PC Barracks recently.

Dubbed “Love Ko Kabayo Ko”, the program aimed to register calesa horses, and offer free veterinary care for them. A dozen caritelahorses from Intramuros got free veterinary check-ups from horse vet Dr. Neil Tanquilut. Equestrienne, TV personality and PAWS volunteer Karen Pamintuan was saddened and shocked to learn from some of the cocheros that this was the first time that their animals were seeing a veterinarian.

“It’s good to see though that they were very eager to learn more about how to give better care for their horsers and were taking note of the tips being given to them,” Karen Pamintuan said. “A lot of the cocheros seemed to be genuinely fond of their horses.”

“The common problems seen were fungal infection in the hoof area or thrush and the absence of dental care for the horses,” said Dr. Tanquilut. 

He extracted blood (for CBC) and a fecal samples from each horse. AKF clinicians used a special measuring tape for the diameter of the horse’s body, which approximated the animal’s weight. The weights were then recorded and provided basis of how much dewormers to give on that day.

The Intramuros equines were also brushed and groomed by some grooms from the Manila Polo Club brought over by CARA president, Nancy Cu Unjieng.Nancy, a horse owner, conducted a mini-lecture for the cocheros on basic horse care.

“Nancy had all the horse-care reminders translated from English to Filipino. She tried her very best to deliver the lecture entirely in Filipino, which is not her first language. She did her job wonderfully,” commented Luis Buenaflor, director for operations of AKF, who was the lead organizer for the project.

* * *

Here are some of the tips that were shared with the cocheros: 

• Horses’ teeth, unlike other animals’, grow continually and must be checked once a year. The teeth must be filed down by a vet or a professional once a year so that their mouths will be free from wounds caused by sharp teeth.

• Horses do not vomit and their intestines are much smaller compared to their bodies. If there is improper feeding, improper swallowing or if a horse is not dewormed regularly, this can cause problems and, eventually, great pain for the animal.

• A horse experiencing stomach pains must be checked by a veterinarian right away. You can tell that the horse has stomach pains if it sweats excessively, if it is uneasy, frequently digs its hooves into the ground and is constipated, or if it often turns its head to its side as if pointing to its stomach. While waiting for the vet, the horse must be walked and not just held stationary so that he can ease some of the pain while waiting to be given medical attention.

• Horses should not be made to work for more than eight hours in a day. They must be made to rest at least four times a day in a shaded area; they must be watered and cooled off.

* * *

And then the sad news.

It is sad that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) granted an animal welfare permit to the traveling dolphin show, which is set to perform in Araneta Center soon. 

In reaction to this, conservationists and animal welfare groups led by PAWS and Earth Island Institute picketed the BAI office in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City, last Dec. 7.

A dolphin show or any traveling show with animals is not good for the animals. Often the animals are made to live under harsh conditions so that they can perform for the crowds that come out to watch.

It is cruel and truly sad.

Here are a few reasons why the upcoming dolphin show should not be watched:

1. Dolphins in traveling dolphin shows are miserable. They swim in small tanks the whole day instead of swimming for thousands of miles like they were meant to.

2. These dolphins have been separated from their families. Don’t let the bred-in-captivity reason fool you. Dr. Naomi Rose, senior scientist for the Humane Society International in her essay “The Myth of Good Marine Parks,” says, “ .. there’s the pesky fact that, despite an active breeding program, a substantial proportion of the dolphins in these facilities were nevertheless captured from the wild. They were caught either in US waters (where the law permits captures under certain circumstances, although none have occurred since 1993) or in foreign waters (the dolphins are typically imported from overseas marine parks which have actually performed the dirty work).

“The cruel and indifferent exploitation of wild dolphins we have been witnessing in the Solomon Islands is the direct consequence of the well-meaning visitor at a (US) dolphin show buying his or her admission ticket. There is a clear line connecting the two. The only way to break the connection is to stop buying the tickets. Don’t provide the incentive, however remote it may seem to you, for dolphin captures half a world away.”

3. Chlorine in the dolphin pool is not good for the health of the dolphins and eventually blinds them. The funny thing is that the dolphin show organizers deny that there is chlorine in their pools and that they use seawater.

PAWS provided me photos of the pool of the dolphin shows held in 2006 and 2007. The color of the water in those photos is the same blue as that of a commercial hotel pool and it clearly tells us that that is chlorinated water.  Seawater does not look like that when placed in a small pool.

* * *

If you love dolphins, don’t watch the dolphin show.