- HOME
- COMMON PUBLIC MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PAWS
- ADOPTION: How do I adopt from PAWS?
- ADMISSION / ABANDONMENT: Can PAWS adopt/take my pet? Can I donate my pet to PAWS?
- ANIMAL CONTROL VS ANIMAL WELFARE
- ANIMAL WELFARE LAWS
- BRANCH OF PAWS: Are there other PAWS branches? Sana may PAWS dito!
- CITY POUND: Help! My dog was caught and was taken to the pound. Is this right/legal?
- CRUELTY: Hit-and-Run Case
- CRUELTY: How To Report Animal Cruelty + Calling 117
- CRUELTY: Online photos / videos / links, what can I do about these?
- DOG BITES: Help! I was bitten by a dog. What do I do?
- DONATE: How can I donate to PAWS?
- FOSTER: Temporarily keeping a rescue is one of the most important things a volunteer or concerned citizen can do. What does it take to foster?
- HOARDING AND IRRESPONSIBLE RESCUING
- HUMANE EDUCATION - BARANGAYS / SUBDIVISIONS : Does PAWS give seminars for barangays on animal care, catching of strays, responsible pet ownership?
- HUMANE EDUCATION: School Tours / Student Interviews / School Visits
- NEGLECT: My neighbor is beating their pet. My neighbor is not giving food/water/shelter.
- NEGLECT: Pet shops (Animals are malnourished, not fed, kept in small/cramped cages, etc.)
- NEIGHBOR COMPLAINING ABOUT OUR PETS
- PET SHOPS / PETS FOR SALE: Is it ok to buy from a pet shop? Is it legal to sell animals in the streets?
- REHOMING ASSISTANCE
- RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP
- RESPONSIBLE RESCUING
- SHELTER CLEANING PROGRAM
- SHELTER FEEDING PROGRAM
- SICK PET: Help, my pet is sick. What do I do?
- SPAY/NEUTER: Benefits
-
STRAY-RESCUE: What To Do With Rescues and Stray Emergencies
- STRAY-RESCUE: How do I admit this poor puppy/kitten/cat/dog I saw on the streets?
- STRAYS - How to get them off the streets?
- STRAYS: Why are there stray cats and dogs?
- ACTUAL REPORT: Dog with cyst. Need assistance.
- ACTUAL REPORT: Abandoned dog
- ACTUAL REPORT: Run-over stray dog with bone sticking out
- ACTUAL REPORT: Stray dog in bad condition beside hospital
- STRAY/RESCUE: Dog/Cat Stuck In Tree/Roof/Sewer/Creek/Etc
- STRAYS/PETS OUT IN THE RAIN/TYPHOON
- STRAY CATS: Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)
- TNR - How to do community TNR
- VET SERVICES: Does PAWS offer vet services?
- VET MALPRACTICE: My pet died at the vet, I think this is negligence, how can I complain about it?
- VOLUNTEER: How do I become a PAWS volunteer? / I'm not from Manila, how can I volunteer? / Can kids volunteer?
- WHY DO DOGS BITE?
- ABANDONED DOGS, PUPPIES, CATS, KITTENS - Can PAWS rescue them?
- ABANDONED NURSING KITTENS: Help! I found these little kittens and I don't know how to take care of them.
- BABIES AND PETS
- BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING: My dog has biting/aggressive problems, etc? What do I do?
- BOARDING: Can I board my pet at PAWS? Can my pet stay temporarily at PAWS?
- BURIAL/CREMATION: Does PAWS offer these services?
- CONDO DOES NOT ALLOW PETS
- DR. DOG : How can my dog be a part of the Dr. Dog Program?
- EXOTIC PETS: Is it legal to keep exotic animals?
- FOUND PET
- LOST PET: My pet is missing. Can you help me?
- NEW YEAR'S TIPS
- ON DOLPHINS, COCKFIGHTING, ETC.
- PAWS LOGO: Can our group use the PAWS logo for our event that will benefit PAWS? Can I use the PAWS logo for my blog?
- TRAVEL WITH PET
- PAWS Facebook Posting Guidelines
- PREPARING FOR DISASTERS
- 5 Freedoms
Why are there a lot of stray cats and stray dogs?
Every day we pass them by. They dodge cars, look for food in the garbage, battle malnutrition and sickness in silence.
Perhaps you can say that their story is the same as any indigent on the street.
But for this set of indigents, there is no government agency dedicated to their welfare (to give them low-cost medical care or provide them with a halfway home) .
They don't vote, they can't speak and their "rights" are still not recognized by most members of society.
And yet their pain and suffering is as real as yours and mine.
HOMELESS ANIMALS. STRAYS.
Strays are not a random occurrence but a symptom of a bigger problem caused by the following: irresponsible pet ownership, pet owners not spaying/neutering their pets, people still BUYING and BREEDING instead of adopting or fostering shelter and rescue animals. The pattern observed from most Filipino concerned citizens is this: person sees a stray animal in need ---> person feels sorry for stray animals ---> person thinks the best way he/she can help is A) put up shelters or B) turn them over to shelters instead of supporting education, lobbying, prosecution and spay-neuter programs.
The typical stray in the Philippines are domesticated animals, once family pets, thrown out into the streets when owners can no longer afford to feed them or when they get sick and their pet owner doesn't want to deal with making them better (financially, physically or emotionally).
The typical stray is the result of unwanted pets who are dumped into the streets intact (intact = pets whose pet owners did not practice spay/neuter).
The typical stray is even the result of intact pets who are allowed out of their homes to roam freely in the streets, who come and go into their home or property as they please.
These intact animals then mate with other strays, get pregnant and give birth to more unwanted dogs or cats. And the cycle continues.
People who are unfamiliar with Spay and Neuter or Kapon (safe, surgical procedures done by veterinarians to keep animals from reproducing) think that the only way they can get rid of their unwanted pets is by:
PAWS is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about kindness to animals and responsible pet ownership. Its small animal shelter (known as PARC - PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center) cares for homeless animals who are victims of cruelty.
PAWS does NOT take in all strays and does not propose to solve the problem of pet homelessness solely through its animal shelter. PAWS works to address the root of the stray population problem through:
1) spay-neuter campaign
2) prosecution
3) lobbying for stronger animal welfare laws
4) education
To do your part to help the stray population problem, please spay/neuter your pets to keep them to a number that you can responsibly care for AND keep them indoors or within your property at all times. PAWS offers low-cost spay/neuter to pet owners, please read the rates here: http://www.paws.org.ph/veterinary-services.html and call tel. # 475-1688 during ofc hours (10am-5pm, Mondays to Saturdays except holidays) to schedule an appointment with the shelter vet.
Perhaps you can say that their story is the same as any indigent on the street.
But for this set of indigents, there is no government agency dedicated to their welfare (to give them low-cost medical care or provide them with a halfway home) .
They don't vote, they can't speak and their "rights" are still not recognized by most members of society.
And yet their pain and suffering is as real as yours and mine.
HOMELESS ANIMALS. STRAYS.
Strays are not a random occurrence but a symptom of a bigger problem caused by the following: irresponsible pet ownership, pet owners not spaying/neutering their pets, people still BUYING and BREEDING instead of adopting or fostering shelter and rescue animals. The pattern observed from most Filipino concerned citizens is this: person sees a stray animal in need ---> person feels sorry for stray animals ---> person thinks the best way he/she can help is A) put up shelters or B) turn them over to shelters instead of supporting education, lobbying, prosecution and spay-neuter programs.
The typical stray in the Philippines are domesticated animals, once family pets, thrown out into the streets when owners can no longer afford to feed them or when they get sick and their pet owner doesn't want to deal with making them better (financially, physically or emotionally).
The typical stray is the result of unwanted pets who are dumped into the streets intact (intact = pets whose pet owners did not practice spay/neuter).
The typical stray is even the result of intact pets who are allowed out of their homes to roam freely in the streets, who come and go into their home or property as they please.
These intact animals then mate with other strays, get pregnant and give birth to more unwanted dogs or cats. And the cycle continues.
People who are unfamiliar with Spay and Neuter or Kapon (safe, surgical procedures done by veterinarians to keep animals from reproducing) think that the only way they can get rid of their unwanted pets is by:
- asking an animal welfare org with limited resources to take in their pet, which in reality is called ABANDONMENT,
- giving them to away to people, who may or may not be prepared for the responsibilities of pet ownership, or
- by "pagligaw" – the cruel practice of dumping animals in far away places where they won't be able to find their way back home.
PAWS is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about kindness to animals and responsible pet ownership. Its small animal shelter (known as PARC - PAWS Animal Rehabilitation Center) cares for homeless animals who are victims of cruelty.
PAWS does NOT take in all strays and does not propose to solve the problem of pet homelessness solely through its animal shelter. PAWS works to address the root of the stray population problem through:
1) spay-neuter campaign
2) prosecution
3) lobbying for stronger animal welfare laws
4) education
To do your part to help the stray population problem, please spay/neuter your pets to keep them to a number that you can responsibly care for AND keep them indoors or within your property at all times. PAWS offers low-cost spay/neuter to pet owners, please read the rates here: http://www.paws.org.ph/veterinary-services.html and call tel. # 475-1688 during ofc hours (10am-5pm, Mondays to Saturdays except holidays) to schedule an appointment with the shelter vet.
Pet overpopulation is the number 1 cause of animal cruelty.
When people are inconvenienced by too many cats or dogs, they turn to cruel dumping or releasing of their pets into the streets or sidewalks. In these situations, dumped ex-housepets are at the highest risk of getting run over or targeted by cruel individuals.
Stray dogs and cats that are fed, but not neutered – are more likely to reproduce at a faster rate. More stray dogs and cats translate to more incidents of bites which often lead local government units to panic and launch a massive collect-and-kill-stray-animals campaign .
People call up PAWS mostly to turn over pets that have reproduced uncontrollably.
They express surprise when PAWS explains that it does not take in pets of other people, only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of Animal Welfare Act in court.
They usually ask “Is there no other agency that I can turn over my pet for adoption?”
But there is no “agency” that will take in unwanted pets except perhaps the City Pound or your local animal control unit. The animals are then put to sleep or euthanized if they are not claimed by anyone.
When people look to the Pound to bring their animals, they are basically sentencing the animals to death. Worse, a humane death cannot be guaranteed because many of these pounds still use inhumane methods of putting animals down (i.e. via tambucho or vehicle gas exhaust fumes or selling to dogmeat traders – which is illegal)
It is quite naïve for people to think that there will be enough homes for all the animals that are brought into this world by unfixed pets. Or to think that there are takers for their abandoned animals when no rehabilitation has taken place behaviorally (for biting dogs) or physically (for unhealthy or sick dogs).
If a pet owner has failed to make provisions for his pet financially, or find that he cannot rehome his pet when he is moving house or leaving the country, it may be best for the owner to actually take the responsible step of bringing the animal to his own vet to be euthanized properly.
It is a sad story for a nation that has little awareness on spay-neuter surgeries that prevent pet pregnancies. Each month, an average city pound in the Philippines puts down 200 unwanted and unclaimed dogs.
There are virtually no government-funded outreach spay-neuter programs – only anti-rabies vaccinations for dogs.
Every little effort taken to spay a pet or a stray actually translates to preventing the birth of unwanted puppies or kittens, thus, saving lives.
It is with this in mind that animal welfare groups all over the world celebrate International Spay Day – an event intended to encourage people to spay or neuter their companion animals. Strictly speaking, Spay Day is celebrated on the last Tuesday of February of every year but the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which launched the event, announced that Spay Day can be celebrated throughout the whole month of February.
An added benefit of neutering animals: spayed or neutered pets live longer, healthier lives; less likely to develop some forms of reproductive cancers; are less likely to pick fights with other animals and are less likely to stray outside your yard in search of a mate.
Stray dogs and cats that are fed, but not neutered – are more likely to reproduce at a faster rate. More stray dogs and cats translate to more incidents of bites which often lead local government units to panic and launch a massive collect-and-kill-stray-animals campaign .
People call up PAWS mostly to turn over pets that have reproduced uncontrollably.
They express surprise when PAWS explains that it does not take in pets of other people, only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of Animal Welfare Act in court.
They usually ask “Is there no other agency that I can turn over my pet for adoption?”
But there is no “agency” that will take in unwanted pets except perhaps the City Pound or your local animal control unit. The animals are then put to sleep or euthanized if they are not claimed by anyone.
When people look to the Pound to bring their animals, they are basically sentencing the animals to death. Worse, a humane death cannot be guaranteed because many of these pounds still use inhumane methods of putting animals down (i.e. via tambucho or vehicle gas exhaust fumes or selling to dogmeat traders – which is illegal)
It is quite naïve for people to think that there will be enough homes for all the animals that are brought into this world by unfixed pets. Or to think that there are takers for their abandoned animals when no rehabilitation has taken place behaviorally (for biting dogs) or physically (for unhealthy or sick dogs).
If a pet owner has failed to make provisions for his pet financially, or find that he cannot rehome his pet when he is moving house or leaving the country, it may be best for the owner to actually take the responsible step of bringing the animal to his own vet to be euthanized properly.
It is a sad story for a nation that has little awareness on spay-neuter surgeries that prevent pet pregnancies. Each month, an average city pound in the Philippines puts down 200 unwanted and unclaimed dogs.
There are virtually no government-funded outreach spay-neuter programs – only anti-rabies vaccinations for dogs.
Every little effort taken to spay a pet or a stray actually translates to preventing the birth of unwanted puppies or kittens, thus, saving lives.
It is with this in mind that animal welfare groups all over the world celebrate International Spay Day – an event intended to encourage people to spay or neuter their companion animals. Strictly speaking, Spay Day is celebrated on the last Tuesday of February of every year but the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which launched the event, announced that Spay Day can be celebrated throughout the whole month of February.
An added benefit of neutering animals: spayed or neutered pets live longer, healthier lives; less likely to develop some forms of reproductive cancers; are less likely to pick fights with other animals and are less likely to stray outside your yard in search of a mate.
Related Topics
- PAWS Campaign: HOMELESS, NOT WORTHLESS
- I want to give/donate my pet to PAWS. Nag-aampon ba ng aso/pusa ang PAWS?
- What can I do to help strays or rescue emergencies that I see on the streets?
- How do I admit into the PAWS shelter the poor stray kitten/dog/puppy I saw in the street?
- PAWS Admission Policy
- PAWS Admission Guidelines - for volunteers and good samaritans
who have rescued a dog/cat - What is the FOSTER HOME Program?
- PAWS Foster Care Agreement Form
- How to report animal cruelty
- Spay/Neuter - "Kapon" - http://www.paws.org.ph/spayneuter-faqs-and-pre-op--post-op-care.html
- SPAY/NEUTER FLYERS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD AND SHARE:
For more ads and posters for distribution in veterinary clinics and barangays
click here.
For flyers about the benefits of Spay&Neuter in Filipino for distribution in barangays and communities,
click here. - Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) - For Stray Cats