A Brief History of the Dog Meat Trade Traditionally, dogs were sacrificed and their meat eaten when a family was faced with bad luck, or when a death was witnessed. It was the belief that a dog's spirit protected and guarded the spirits of the living family. However, this was an infrequent practice. Greed has evolved the ritual into a commercial industry that results in the deaths of of over 500,000 dogs a year in the Philippines. Although most Filipinos detest the practice and do not eat dog meat, it is still concentrated in areas in and around Baguio City and the Cordilleros Region.   What is the current law? The Philippines' Animal Welfare Act of 1998 (Section 8 of the Republic Act No. 8485) prohibits the torture of all animals with the exception of livestock. In addition, it does provide an exception to killing for religious purposes. Unfortunately, the Act fails for three reasons: (1) there is no direct prohibition against the commercial dog meat trade; (2) the penalties are minimal; and (3) there is a lack of local enforcement due to certain uniformed officers who profit for their own self-interest. The cost of a trader to keep his business of slaughtering dogs for profit: Traders plead guilty and pay a fine of not less than One thousand pesos (P1,000) nor more than Five thousand pesos (P5,000). What is that amount in US Dollars? Ready for this? Not less than $20.35 and no more than $100.00. It pays for Traders to pay a penalty because it's actually less than bribing a police officer. It is a $3.8 million dollar industry and the payment of a penalty is small cost of doing business.   What needs to change? Because this exceedingly brutal commercial industry provides a steady flow of income not only to the traders but to individuals in government positions acting in their own interests, the dog meat trade remains unscathed from the Animal Welfare Act. However, House Bill 2991 is currently pending in the Committee on Revision of Laws that provides a stiffer penalty to dog meat traders. Introduced by Representative Francis Escudero, the creation of the bill was based on the need to upgrade an Act that, ⤜as noble as the objectives of the law are, the traders remain elusive because the penalty is unrealistic. The penalty must be upgraded. OUR GOAL is to obtain OVER 50,000 signatures by JUNE 30, 2007. The Bill is expected to be addressed by Congress in July 2007. It is obvious that the only way we can ensure that dogs in the Philippines are protected is to place the Philippine government under the international spotlight.   What can you do? Your participation is critical to the success of this campaign!   1)   2) Send an email or a personalized letter to your local Philippine ambassador asking him/her to relay your concerns about the dog meat trade to the Philippine government. Feel free to use the sample letter here, but your message will carry more weight if you write your own customized letter.   3) Forward the petition URL to friends and family members. Ask them to sign today.   4) Distribute a printable copy of the petition (for Philippine residents or all other countries) to gather more signatures or print a flyer (in color or black and white) and post at local bulletin boards to spread the word.   "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."  ~Margaret Meade

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