Dogs avail of free services including vaccination, vitamins and deworming during the Dog’s Friendship Day at Mactan Shrine. Right photo: Dogs wear the dog shirts sponsored by Lapu-Lapu Mayor Paz Radaza.
CDNPHOTO/NORMAN V. MENDOZA
Around 200 dogs gathered yesterday at the Liberty Shrine in Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City, to take part in the celebration of Friendship Day.
The dogs were treated to a party-like gathering and enjoyed free services like vaccination, deworming, free vitamins and dog food.
A photo booth was also installed where pet owners took pictures with their pets.
The dogs were also given a dog shirt, each with Lapu-Lapu City’s branding colors.
City veterinarian Dr. Janice Tugonon said the activity is part of their campaign to promote responsible pet ownership.
She said the city veterinary office continues to impound stray dogs. She said that every week they euthanize the dogs that are not claimed by their owners through lethal injection.
Based on Republic Act 9482 (Anti-Rabies Act of 2007), owners of dogs that will be caught outside the house without a leash will be meted a fine of P500.
Pet owners who do not register their dogs or submit them to immunization will pay a fine of P2,000.
Pet owners who refuse to put their dogs under observation after the dog has bitten an individual will be meted a fine of P10,000. Pet owners who do not shoulder the medical expenses of the person bitten shall be meted a fine of P25,000.
Tugonon said that their office is always open for pet services such as free castration, deworming, vaccination or immunization against rabies.
“Ang problema sa uban kay dili gyud magtagad og pabakuna sa ilang pet (The problem of other people is that they don’t get their pets vaccinated),” said Dr. Tugonon.
“That is why the city, no matter how they aim for a rabies-free city, still has rabies cases and that most of the cases,” she added.
In 2016, the city has recorded 13 cases of rabies, and this year from January until the present, the number has reduced to five.
Mayor Paz Radaza, also a pet lover who owns around 32 dogs, said she is planing to hold this event regularly to encourage pet owners to be responsible.
“We will make this a regular activity each year to educate pet owners and for the city to eventually become a rabies-free city,” Radaza said in Cebuano.
This is the first time that the dogs wore the branding colors of the city.
Two years ago, they also held “Bark for Love,” a bonding between pets and their owners.
Radaza sponsored the giving of dog shirts and dog food as the day also marked the birthday of her dog “Kikay,” who had just been successfully operated due to kidney infection.