THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has approved a new administrative circular, seeking to eliminate the trade of dog meat in the Philippines.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala signed Administrative Circular 1, Series of 2016, which calls for a Philippine Action Plan on Dog Meat Elimination from 2015 to 2020 to assure the “effective” enforcement of the laws that prevent the trade of dog meat in the country.
“We take it as a challenge to institute and concretize the national action plan to achieve a dog meat trade-free Philippines by 2020,” Alcala said in the circular.
The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) of the DA said the action plan ensures that only food animals will be available to consumers in the Philippines.
Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 9296, or the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines, dog meat is not among the food animals that should be traded and distributed to consumers.
RA 10631, or the amended Animal Welfare Act of 1998, prohibits the torture, maltreatment, cruelty, neglect, abandonment and killing of dogs, with certain exceptions, while RA 9482, or the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007, bans the trade of dogs as food meat as a measure to prevent the spread of rabies in the country.
However, the illegal trading of dog meat is still prevalent in some areas of the country.
“Records reveal the proliferation of the illegal trade of dogs for their meat in the country, particularly in the city of Baguio, Benguet, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and their neighboring local government units. Despite increasingly loud calls for crackdowns against dog-meat traders and a barrage of unflattering media coverage, arrests and prosecution of offenders, the trade still prevails,” Administrative Circular 1 read.
The NMIS said the national action plan targets to address the “deficiencies” in policies and legal basis against dog-meat trade, and the lack of public awareness regarding the issue. The action plan aims to educate the public; enhance the capacity of relevant institutions; expand the control measures in areas where dog-meat trading proliferates; and ensure “speedy and quality” disposition of dog-meat trade cases in the Philippines.
It also seeks to form partnerships; strengthen coordinating mechanisms among involved agencies; and reconfigure the enforcement tools and mechanisms, and fill the gaps on dog-meat trade enforcement operations, such as the creation of the National Committee on Dog Meat Trade Eradication.
“[The circular] also facilitates implementation, identifies budgetary requirements and other logistical support toward plan implementation and program sustainability,” the NMIS said in a statement.
An interagency or multisector partnership will be created for the effective enforcement of the action plan. This includes the NMIS; Bureau of Animal Industry; departments of Health, and the Interior and Local Government; Philippine National Police; and the Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc.
“With the implementation of this National Plan of Action, the perceived inaction of the government regarding the atrocities on dogs and consumption of dog meat, as well as the health and sanitation issues accompanying in eating of a nonfood animal will be addressed, thereby, paving the way in realizing a dog meat trade-free in the Philippines and supporting its vision of a rabies-free by the year 2020,” the NMIS said. The circular authorizes the BAI and the DA to use their annual appropriations to implement the approved action plan for animal welfare and antirabies campaign. The NMIS is similarly directed to fund its activities against dog-meat trade.