Poe pushes bill giving animal welfare law more teeth

Sen. Grace Poe urged her colleagues on Tuesday to immediately act on a proposed measure that seeks to revise the Animal Welfare Act as another case of animal cruelty sparked outrage when a still unidentified person mutilated the ears of a pair of 10-month-old shih tzus in Legazpi City.

The incident happened even before the furor could die down over last week’s killing of a golden retriever named Killua in Camarines Sur province.

“It is disheartening to hear more cases of torture, neglect and maltreatment of animals after we pushed for the amendment of the Animal Welfare Act in the Senate,” Poe said in a statement.

“We hope that the strong public reception to our cause is well-received by our colleagues in Congress for them to immediately act on the proposed measure,” she added.

Poe also welcomed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri’s commitment to make the measure a priority in the chamber.

In a viral post on social media, the owner of the shih tzus, Maris Icleo Aguilar, said she arrived home past 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Barangay 8-Bagumbayan to find the dogs weak and bloodied.

One of them, Luna, had one ear missing, while the other one, Bonbon, had both ears cut off.

Aguilar believed that a burglar entered her house, where only the dogs were around, and lashed out at the pair upon finding nothing valuable to steal.

Deterrent sought Senate Bill (SB) No. 2458 seeks a revised Animal Welfare Act to strengthen animal welfare standards, policies, rules and regulations, implementation and enforcement, and impose tougher penalties on violators. It is now pending in the Senate committee on agriculture.

Poe said she hopes to pass the measure soon and put an end to despicable incidents involving animals.

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Under SB 2458, an Animal Welfare Bureau with city, municipal, provincial and regional offices will be created and placed under the Department of Agriculture.

Any person found subjecting any animal to cruelty, maltreatment or any of the prohibited acts under the measure faces a penalty of imprisonment from one year and six months to three years, and a fine of not less than P30,000 but not over P100,000.

Abandoning animals, operating an animal facility without permits and using animals for shows, research or scientific purposes without the required permits will also be penalized.

Those who engage in dog meat trading face a penalty of not less than P5,000 per dog and imprisonment of one to four years or both, according to the measure.

“There are cases of animal cruelty everywhere we turn. It is time for us to provide more teeth to the law to stop the abuse,” Poe said. INQ