EDITORIAL - World Animal Day

A society’s level of civilization is reflected in the way it treats animals. The most cruel to animals – people, for example, who slaughter elephants for their tusks and rhinoceros for their horns – tend to live in areas of armed conflict, where fratricidal violence is a way of life. In countries where dog meat is a delicacy, keeping dogs as pets rather than sources of meat becomes more prevalent with rising prosperity.

As the Philippines marks World Animal Day today, animal lovers have some cause for celebration. There are several groups promoting the welfare of animals, and caring for strays and abused dogs and cats. Slaughtering dogs is prohibited under Philippine laws. Filipinos helped police bust a Korean-led group engaged in dogfights. The rescued animals were found acutely malnourished and kept in horrible conditions. Police have also saved many dogs from being slaughtered for meat especially in the Cordilleras.

There are still many Filipinos, however, who think dogs are nothing more than security alarms – people who keep the animals on a short leash and chained to gates, like living doorbells.

The observance of World Animal Day started in 1931, at a convention in Florence, to promote the protection of endangered species. In the Philippines, animal conservation groups are active, but there’s still a lot to be done in saving many indigenous animals from extinction. While there are no elephants or black rhinos to be slaughtered in this country, Filipinos who buy ivory and rhinoceros horns from international traffickers can be just as bad. Unless these smugglers and fences are penalized, the country will continue to be among the world’s hotspots for wildlife trafficking.

The date marking World Animal Day was originally chosen because Oct. 4 is the Feast Day of the patron saint of animals, Francis of Assisi. Today the event is observed worldwide regardless of faith, political ideology and nationality. That can be considered progress, but there’s still a wide room for improvement in the ethical treatment of animals.