Mandaue veterinarian explains ‘Don’t feed the stray animals’ post

Personnel of the Mandaue City Veteranarian’s Office post a “Do not feed stray animals” sign on the wall of a quarantine facility in Mandaue City. |MCVO FB page

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The Mandaue City Veterinary Office (MCVO) has clarified that the reminder that they had posted on a quarantine facility’s wall is only intended to the concerned employee and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who will be confined in the facility that the city has prepared.

Dr. Karen Merilles, Mandaue’s city veterinarian, was referring to the Facebook post of a job order employee of the MCVO, who took a photo of MCVO personnel putting a sign on the facility’s wall, which stated “Do not feed the stray animals.”

An MCVO job order employee posted that shot in his FB account, which circulated online and the photos eventually got posted in the “Veterinary LGU Mandaue” page which gathered 3.3K shares, 4.4K comments, and 5K reactions.

But the post resulted to an outburst of negative comments from the netizens, and as of this writing, the page could no longer be accessed.

Merilles, however, said that the reminder was a part of the city’s precautionary measure to avoid the spread of the virus and to prevent cross contamination.

“Ani man gud ni siya, the COVID virus is still kanang, nature niya cannot still be understood. So with regards (to) cross contamination mao na atong gilikayan. It is possible that stray animals mosud, mo-mingle with the patients. Mo come in contact with their personal belongings,” Merilles said.

(This is the situation. The nature of the COVID virus still cannot be understood. So with regards to cross contamination, that is what we are trying to avoid. It is possible that stray animals will enter the quarantine facility, they will mingle with the patients, and they will come in contact with the patients’ personal belongings.)

She said that stray animals, such as dogs could become vessels of the virus which would result in its spread.

“Dili siya necessarily carrier since wala ta’y proof no nga maigo siya sa COVID. However, iyang hair, iyang paws, they could come in contact with COVID patients, who knows mahimo siyang vessels sa virus,” she added.

(Stray animals will not necessarily be carriers since we do not have proof that the animals will be infected with the COVID-19 virus. However, the stray animals’ hair, paws, they could come in contact with the COVID patients, who knows they might become vessels of the virus.)

Merilles also recommended to properly dispose of leftover food of COVID-19 patients to discourage stray animals from coming in and out in the facility.

Although the city had also been concerned about the welfare of animals, Merilles said that with the health crisis in the country, the government’s priority would be the humans’ health and their security against the virus./dbs