| IWCT
SEPTEMBER 2006 NEWSLETTER
|
Dear Friends,
BECAUSE
OF YOUR GENEROSITY OUR RESCUED
DOGS ARE ALIVE AND WELL
THE
GRAND OPENING OF OUR VERY OWN
DOG RESCUE/REHABILITATION CENTRE
WAS ON TUESDAY 11 TH JULY 2006.
THE HEAVENS SHONE UPON US, IT
WAS A BLISTERING HOT DAY WITH
TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW TO MID
FORTIES AND THE NEXT DAY BROUGHT
A TROPICAL STORM!
NO
LONGER WILL WE BE TAKING DOGS
THAT WE HAVE CONFISCATED FROM
THE ILLEGAL DOG TRADERS TO THE
CITY POUNDS, WHERE THEY ARE
ALWAYS PUT DOWN WITHIN 7-10
DAYS, THAT IS NOW FIRMLY IN
THE PAST. OUR RULE IS THAT DOGS
WILL ONLY EVER BE PUT DOWN WHEN
FOR HEALTH REASONS THEIR CONDITION
IS SUCH THAT RECOVERY IS DEEMED
BY OUR VETERINARIAN TO BE IMPOSSIBLE.
The
opening day that we had been
planning for so long went off
without any hitches; it was
well attended by the Philippine
media, heads and representatives
of the central and local government
and in particular, the Honourable Wencelito
T Andanar, Undersecretary
for Peace and Order and for
Local Government and the Department
of Interior. This Central Government
Agency is in charge of law enforcement
throughout the Philippines.
The Honourable Wencelito T Andanar,
in his address to the media
reiterated his commitment to
working with other Government
agencies and with us (AKF) to
bring about the demise
of the illegal dog meat trade
for human consumption.
Whichever
way you look at it, this has
to be a GIANT STEP FORWARD.
Also
present at the opening were
officials form The Department
of Agriculture, The Meat Inspection
Board, The Wildlife and Natural
Resources Department, the local
Mayor and the local Priest;
who walked all around the site
blessing the place and all the
animals. I made sure that he
blessed the two sick dogs that
we had in our veterinary clinic.
One of the dogs “Adon” (his
photo is in the top left hand
corner of the dogs available
for sponsor) had a very bad
case of mange and a great wound
over his nose caused by the
dog trader tying his mouth shut.
Winston our vet worked his magic
on Adon, who has now made a
complete recovery, sadly the
other dog is still in the sick
bay.
Also
‘ “ Abby ' ” received a special
blessing being the first to
arrive at our centre when she
was just about six weeks old,
given in to us by her owner
who no longer wanted her. I
know it's wrong but Abby is
my little favourite, I suppose
it's because I was there when
she was given in and I fussed
over her, fed her and walked
her. Now she goes bonkers every
time she sees me. Many of you
ask me how do I do this job…
I don't know; but now you can
see that I am only human, who
could not love Abby.
Incidentally
Jasmine is now going by the
name of Abby. As you know Jasmine
was the first to arrive so for
the sake of our records she
has been given the number 001
and the name Abby. Those of
you who sponsored her will shortly
be receiving a much more recent
photograph along with a certificate
reflecting the change of her
name.
Jass
our second arrival at the centre
has been re-homed by John Hughes,
a long-term supporter of IWCT.
Those of you sponsoring Jasmine,
please feel free to choose another
dog from our sponsor sheet to
replace her and we will send
you a photograph and a new certificate.
.
REGARDLESS
OF WHAT OTHER ORGANISATIONS
MAY SAY PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT
IWCT/AKF ARE THE ONLY ORGANISATION
S WORKING IN THE PHILIPPINES
COMBATING THE ILLEGAL DOG TRADE,
THAT HAVE A RESCUE CENTRE WHERE
THE DOGS ARE TAKEN TO AND WILL
LIVE OUT THE REST OF THEIR NATURAL
LIFE.
And
now, back to the opening of
the centre. Also present was
my friend of some thirty years
Mr John Hawkridge. John is a
practicing veterinarian and
has looked after all my animals
in that time, he is also a staunch
animal welfare supporter and
Chairman of the IWCT Trustees.
John was specifically there
to lend a hand in setting up
our veterinary clinic and to
give support and guidance in
new practice and techniques
to Winston. My thanks go to
John for sharing his knowledge
off caring for animals with
the centres staff. I know we
have benefited greatly from
it.
We
are still looking for vets and
veterinary nurses from the UK
or other skilled persons in
animal care to take a working
holiday in the Philippines.
The deal is IWCT w ill ould
pay 50% of the air ticket, although
we do suggest that you try for
sponsorship. If you are in the
vet business possibly a pharmaceutical
company would be willing to
assist you and also may be willing
to donate drugs, we need so
much. Remember our centre has
the capability of housing 1000
dogs, right now we only have
around 60 to care for. Once
you have arrived in the Philippines,
we will take care of you, we
will provide the first night
's accommodation in Manila and
next day transportation to our
rescue centre in Tarlac, 80
miles north of Manila. Once
there you will be provided with
European standard accommodation
and all meals during your stay
with us. Interested?? Then please
contact me personally to discuss
the details. We really do need
all the professional help that
we can get to nurse any sick
dogs and keep those in good
health, healthy.
To
sum up the rescue centre, everybody
present at the opening ceremony
was very impressed by it, which
is good as we have all put a
lot of very hard work and effort
into getting it right for both
dogs and humans. Of course,
you have all put a lot of money
towards this centre, and from
day one I have been very conscious
that I was spending your money.
The dogs love it, it truly is
a joy to see the wagging tails
and I am quite sure they know
that they have just been released
from hell and now?…. Is
this heaven?
All
the pens where they are kept
are approximately 25 feet by
90 feet, with a constant supply
of fresh water. Feeding times
are 8am and 5pm and all the
pens have raised shade and sheltered
areas.
One
dog did that escape d and outside
of the centre, stay ed ing out
over night but , was barking
outside the gate to come back
inside the very next morning.
For some reason he has taken
a shine to our guard, and does
not like being in a pen. He
follows the guard everywhere.
When the guard opens the gate
to let someone in or out he
goes outside but always makes
sure to get back in before the
gate is closed. So now the guard
has a guard dog!
I
am sure you will agree with
me that this is very good news
as frankly I can tell you the
centre is beyond my wildest
dreams. We now have dogs living
happily where as previously
they would have been dead, we
have saved their lives. The
bad news is all this comes at
a price, right now the centre
with only 60 dogs in it, is
costing £800 per month
to operate and the centre has
the capacity to house 1000 dogs.
Admittedly the ratio cost of
keeping each dog will go down
as numbers increase, but once
we pass the 200/250 figure,
the cost will significantly
increase. At present Pedigree
Chum are donating some food
to us, will this increase as
the numbers go up? We will need
to employ more staff and I have
serious doubts if our one vet
will be able to cope. In addition
the most expensive thing we
are finding is the cost of veterinary
requirements i.e. drugs and
anaesthetics.
Clearly
these are things that we cannot
cut back on, it's a nightmare,
and simply put , it's money
we do not have coming in. My
hope now is that as many of
our loyal supporters as is possible
will , in addition to their
usual generous donation, take
up a sponsorship of a dog in
our care. The good thing about
sponsoring a dog is it can be
done for your children, a relative
or a friend as a gift on a special
occasion. Also please show the
list of dogs to your work mates
or better still get it pinned
up on a notice board. Any way
in which you can help will be
truly appreciated, please don't
be shy, if you want more another
or a supply of the dog sponsor
forms just ask us , we will
be very happy to send them to
you.
Back
to good news ; , we have now
conducted with the Philippine
Government all five of the scheduled
meetings around various dog
eating regions in the Philippines.
All these meetings were well
attended by the local Mayors;
chiefs of Police and local law
enforcement officers and commitments
have now been made to enforce
the animal welfare law. Rest
assured over the coming months
we will be keeping a very careful
watch, making sure that the
regulations are being put into
effect. Now the Philippine Government
want to have these meetings
extended to another three regions
and I have recently authorised
the expenditure to cover these
three extra meetings. Again
this truly is stretching both
our small work force and our
finances to the extreme limits.
The problem is we just cannot
afford to let this kind of opportunity
slip by us, we have to do everything
we can to save as many dogs
as possible.
The
last meeting to have taken place
was in Baguio, 150 miles north
of Manila. Baguio is the absolute
epicentre of the dog eating
trade. It is also the state
capital of Benget where the
local council passed the resolution
requesting to be made exempt
ion from the national animal
welfare law in order that they
would be allowed to eat dogs.
As I said in ou r t last newsletter
they lost, we won. Baguio was
always going to be the hot seat
for these meetings and they
did not disappoint us, around
150 showed up for the meeting
and not surprisingly we came
in for a lot of abuse, plus
all the normal threats, clearly
there are those that would like
to cause us harm. However, all
of this nonsense was to no avail
as we were not there to argue
the pros and cons of eating
dogs, that argument had already
been settled months ago by the
Philippine Central Government.
The point of the meeting was
to inform to the local officials,
the Mayor and the police that
the law is now to be enforced.
Believe me, Baguio will be kept
under very close surveillance.
Breaking
this next piece of news to you
is not going to be easy. They
say save the best till last,
believe me this is not the best
it's the worst. Just tell me,
why are some humans so evil
towards animals? In July this
year one of our investigators
was on the Island of Negress
checking out a suspected dog
trader, when he happened to
hear of a zoo type place where
crocodiles were being fed with
live food. Greg our investigator
thought he should check it out,
and to his horror her found
out that they are being fed
on live puppies, cats and chickens.
In fact he witnessed a live
cat being thrown into the jaws
of a crocodile, the cat escaped
injured but was soon caught
again and eaten (photos of this
spectacle are enclosed in the
BLACK CAUTION LEAFLET please
be warned, these pictures are
upsetting).
It
is as I am sure you are only
too well aware very difficult
for us to turn our backs on
such acts of gross cruelty,
but as a registered charity
we are bound to act within the
strict laws of the Charity Commissioners.
IWCT solicits funds from you
on the understanding that all
funds raised will be solely
used to bring about the demise
of the illegal dog traders in
the Philippines, and as many
of you have demonstrated to
care for the dogs we confiscate
from the dog traders, this is
what we do.
I
am now asking for your permission
to use some of these funds in
an effort to save puppies and
cats being thrown alive into
the jaws of hungry crocodiles.
If you are agreeable please
just tick the box on the donor
form when returning the form
to us with your contribution.
Incidentally,
in the last newsletter, the
baby crocodiles that I told
you about in the restaurant
windows have all been removed.
The owner of these restaurants
is now under the investigation
of the Government Department
of Natural Resources and Wildlife.
The facts so far are the owner
has a licence to keep crocodiles
but not to exhibit them. It
is now up to the Wildlife Department
to decide whether to prosecute
or not. I believe this will
depend on what facilities he
has for housing these reptiles.
And
finally, I really am truly sorry
for always asking for your financial
help, but what else can I do,
I simply cannot bear to see
or know that these animals will
suffer if we don't help them;
I have seen this all too many
times.
To
Now I see how happy the dogs
are within hours of arriving
at our centre, I just have to
ask for your help. They cannot
talk, they cannot say thank
you, but their wagging tails
and friendly licks speak louder
than any words ever could.
On
their behalf let me say THANK
YOU.
Yours
sincerely,

Ps. I have just heard from the
P hilippines that directly related
to our Government meetings the
Filipino police have instigated
and conducted a raid against
the dog traders confiscating
60 dogs. Sadly 24 were had already
died. All the live dogs are
now at our centre.
•
Back
to Newsletter Main
|