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A dog killer in the Philippines was fined US$17. New bills seek reform

PressNewsAgency
By PressNewsAgency

Two years ago, Vina Arazas found her dog’s lifeless body in a sack. The man responsible for beating her golden retriever Killua to death was made to pay a fine of just 1,000 pesos (US$17) – despite his crime being caught on camera and widely shared on social media.
Now, a coalition of animal welfare groups in the Philippines is rallying behind two new bills that would place dedicated animal protection officers in every police station and create a national oversight body for such cruelty cases.

“I loved him so much,” Arazas wrote in a post on social media that was shared nearly 300,000 times.

Killua’s killer was ultimately taken to court with help from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (Paws). In addition to the 1,000-peso fine, he was ordered to pay 19,000 pesos in damages.

“We didn’t expect that,” said Anna Cabrera, a lawyer and executive director of Paws. “That with a maximum of 100,000 pesos for killing a dog, the judge would just go for 1,000.”

Axle the American bulldog (left) was beaten to death by an irate neighbour in front of horrified onlookers late last year. Photos: Handout

Although the Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to pass an animal welfare law in 1998, advocates say that lax implementation has allowed violators to escape proper punishment, with penalties routinely failing to match the severity of offences.

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