Carla Abellana and Geoff Eigenmann: Love, fur real

MANILA, Philippines - Three years strong and their relationship shows no waning.

Carla Abellana and Geoff Eigenmann make sense together: classic good looks, competent acting skills, and both progenies of local showbiz royalties. That they’re both animal lovers is a bright red cherry on top of their cute-as-cupcake pairing.

“It’s both in our families, having lots of pets at home,” Carla affirms. “Cats, dogs...”

“We’ve even had iguanas and snakes,” Geoff adds. “Yeah, there are always pets around between me and my two brothers.”

The pair admits that being both pet lovers are plus factors in their relationship, adding that there’s an added level of compatibility in how much they care about animal rights and protection.

During a visit to the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) shelter in Katipunan on a hot afternoon, Carla brought along two of her dogs: Sunny, her Welsh Corgi, who was quick to investigate the patches of grass in the parking lot despite a noticeable limp on his left hind leg, and Patches, a Jack Russell Terrier, who doesn’t lag behind at all in the energy department. As Carla minds Patches, Geoff is solicitous of Sunny, whose ran-over leg is still recuperating from surgery a couple of weeks ago; despite the dog being leashed, the actor would pick him up with care whenever he wanders off too far.

Sunny is actually a miracle story that was preceded by sad news. Earlier this year, Carla’s English Bulldog Rocky suddenly passed away.

“No symptoms, no sign of pain, nothing. He died the morning I was supposed to bring him to the vet,” the actress recalls. “Sudden deaths like that make you question, ‘What if I did this or that sooner? Would it have saved him?’ And the worst thing was I wasn’t able to help him, ease his pain. That’s always the sad truth in owning a pet, when you have to say good-bye. Sometimes, you don’t even get to say good-bye properly.”

A week later, Sunny got run over by a car.

“Imagine, I was still grieving over my dead dog and then that happened,” Carla says. “I almost lost him; good thing he fought through it.” Sunny’s recovery made the actress more resolved in doing everything that she wasn’t able to do for Rocky. “That was honestly my first time to do the kind of care I did for him. Like I’d stay and sleep in the hospital to watch over him; it was my way of making up to Rocky. And I realized that if I could do all those things for a pet, what more for a loved one?”

What more, indeed? As loyal as they are to their pets, the couple are devoted to each other, making them one of the more admirable pairings in the entertainment business. This summer, with Geoff finally done with shooting the conclusion of GMA 7’s Forever and Carla waiting for her next soap on top of her weekly shows Party Pilipinas and Bubble Gang, they take their mini-vacations quietly and with minimal fanfare. Neither of them are flashy about their relationship and have somehow maintained some measure of privacy despite the prevalent tendency among their peers to overshare; their travels abroad aren’t announced with press releases and their statements to each other, when prompted by writers in interviews, are simple, direct, but no less sincere.

“Geoff’s like an English Bulldog; he himself said that,” Carla replies, laughing, when asked what dog breed is her boyfriend like the most. “And that fits his personality: He may look grumpy — and at times he is — but he’s actually a very sweet person. English Bulldogs are like that, intimidating-looking but are really sweethearts.”

“With Carla, she’s like a Welsh Corgi, just like Sunny,” Geoff counters. “Prim, proper, clean, well-behaved, in fact the Queen’s favorite dog — that’s so her.”

The comparison put a big smile on actress’ face. “Aww, really? That’s sweet.”

It’s an easy companionship between the two.

While Carla is a bit more outgoing than Geoff, they can finish each other’s sentences, and whenever one of them speaks, the other is at complete attention. Though the two are yet to own“conjugal” pets, they’re looking to own big dogs in the future. “Alaskan Malamutes, Burnese Mountain dogs, Newfoundlands...” Geoff rattles off. “If only we had the space, right? But we’d love to have huge dogs.”

“He owns a Siberian Husky, also a big dog, but mine are more easy to carry,” Carla adds. “But yes to the big dogs. We just want to get big, furry hugs.”

In the meantime, the two are content working with the variously shaped and sized volunteer canines that make up PAWS’ Dr. Dog, an innovative animal-assisted therapy program that makes rounds of hospitals and other institutions. To date, Dr. Dog has visited about a hundred institutions that ranged from schools to children’s hospitals to homes for the elderly, and Carla, who has been a PAWS volunteer since 1997 and is one of this year’s PAWS Golden Heart awardees, actively works in raising public awareness about the program.

“There is something different when you bring in dogs to visit patients,” the actress explains. Last year, in celebration of her 24 th birthday, she opted to spend the day with the young patients at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Dr. Dogs in tow.

“Not only were the children happy to have visitors but their smiles were extra big when they saw the dogs. Of course, they were glad to see someone like me who they see on TV, so they asked for pictures and autographs. But with the dogs, they showed extra joy. That was an experience that really struck me.”

“There is really something different with programs like Dr. Dogs,” Geoff agrees. “In fact, Anna (Hashim-Cabrera of PAWS) has told us of a case where the dogs visited a special school for autistic children. One of the kids there hasn’t spoken to either his teachers or the doctors for years, but when the Dr. Dogs came, he talked to the dogs. That was amazing.”

“I guess animals just show a different kind of compassion, companionship, and love,” Carla surmises. “Some people are just naturally too shy and uncomfortable with talking to other people, but with dogs and other animals, interaction comes easier.”

The pair sit down in the PAWS garden, surrounded by Doctor Dog volunteers and their humans. As they pet, nuzzle, and cradle the dogs, Carla affirms what pet lovers have long known about their furry friends: “Love, really, is the best therapy.”