“A dog is the only thing on Earth that loves you more than he loves himself” - Josh Billings

Dogs are one of Earth’s unique creatures that has been with man, domesticated or not, for hundreds of years already. Men were accompanied by dogs during hunting, herding, farming and until the present days as pets.

Anyone can bring any animal at home but only a true animal lover can take care of his pet. Pets come in many kinds, but one of the most common are dogs. Here in the Philippines, wide varieties of breeds are available, but the notable breed among many others is the mongrel dog found in the country called “Askal”, a short term for asong kalye or street dogs. But it was later on changed to “Aspin” to remove the stigma of the dogs being called asong kalye since it has owners. Aspins are known to withstand some of the common diseases among dog breed and are known to have tough immune systems. Here in the country, dogs are kept as pets so that food scraps can be given to them but I strongly dislike this type of practice. They guard our house and our properties; they surely deserve a decent and better meal than that!

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.” – John Grogan, Marley and Me

Me as a child, I have always been fond of dogs and was given the opportunity to take one as a pet. I’ve always wanted one since I was little and having one made me what I am today. It required accountability and responsibility for me, I need to feed it, bath it, made sure it was healthy and the like. It was never easy but it was all worth it. Having the chance to own a dog made me realize that dogs are really man’s best friend.

“Whoever said that diamonds are girl’s bestfriend never owned a dog” – Anonymous

While I was still in college, I have encountered these stray dogs, I even get to feed some with bread almost every night going home after my class. I bought bread at Victoria’s bakeshop and feed it to strays I pass by going to Bara-as. One night, my cousin caught me feeding them and scolded me. She said that I’m wasting my time and money in feeding the dogs and that instead the dog pound should take them away, I give them reason to stay by feeding them. Since then I have always wanted to be a part of an organization that has the same values as mine, those that gave importance to stray animals and focus on animal rescue and rehabilitation.

Here in Iligan City, great numbers of stray Aspins roam around every corners of the street, though some have owners, only few of them live in a cosy home with good food. Strays are found near dumpsites and junkshops roaming around to find something to eat. Some are scavenging for anything just to fill their empty stomachs. Now it pains me to see such scenario since owners must be very aware that animals have rights and that they must receive and equal part of the life they deserve to have.

This is Santi, saying bye-bye to the streets of Santiago

It is stated in the Republic Act 8485 under Section 6 that it is unlawful for any person to torture any animal, to neglect to provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animals…kill or cause or procure to be tortured…(shortened)

...which means that as pet owners, we need to be responsible of our pets. We need to give them adequate care, sustain for their needs just like our selves and provide them a home where they will loved and taken care of. Failure to do so would mean that you've violated the law!

Not long after, I encountered the facebook group of PART-Iligan and I immediately joined.

PART-Iligan (Pet Adoption and Rescue Team-Iligan) is a group of dog and cat lovers from all walks of life mostly based in Iligan City dedicated in paving the way for dogs and cats that are homeless, and or being neglected, to be rescued and adopted. We believe that each dog and cat must belong to a family where they are provided with utmost care that they deserve.

In part of our goal, the team has successfully conducted its First ever Dog Feeding held last February 17, 2018 at barangays Canaway, Santiago and parts of Tambacan through the support of the members. Since the team is a non-funded group, each participant were encouraged to bring any of the following: 1 cup of rice and 1 can of sardines or 1 cup of dog food to be fed to the stray dogs.

Dogs from Brgy. Canaway

Dogs from Brgy.Santiago

Puppies from Brgy. Tambacan

During the feeding, I did not know anybody except for Ma’am Kris whom I kept contact with while making the flyers. They were all fun to be with and the team was really motivated to feed any stray dogs roaming around the areas of the mentioned barangays.

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We were able to rescue 3 puppies and 1 cat during the feeding. One of this is Santi, named after the barangay where we found her, Santiago.

This is Santi playing with me

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This dog is from Barangay Canaway. Seeing from its appearance, it has not received any care or attention from its owners. Although very skinny, the moment we fed her she immediately stood up and ate as many as she can. After eating, she regained much strength that she walked around and started following us around.

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There is also a very old dog hiding inside an abandoned bridge in barangay Tambacan. As you can see, she is all covered in mange and very skinny and hungry. After she ate and recovered her strength, she went outside her hiding place and basked in the sun beside the sea.

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We also encountered a family who had a dog with special needs. The dogs would wobble and are not able to stand and eat as normal dogs would. (I will be making another blog for this) We are grateful that these couple who loved their dog so much and went for an extra mile just to keep and and take care for their dog. By the way, this dog is now 6 years old!

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People within the community got curios about the feeding while some of them were happy that some people were concern of the animals around the community. I just hope that this small act of kindness towards animals will motivate pet owners to do their part as well.

Small acts of service for these creatures may not matter to men, but it will definitely mean a lot to these voiceless creatures.

Although as of the moment, the team has been receiving numerous requests for rehabilitation and adoption, we are not yet capable of doing so because of monetary concerns and we still have no area to put all rescued animals. Before we take and rescue animals, we need someone willing to foster the animal for the mean time until it is ready for adoption since the team is not yet capable of having a rehabilitation area. But the admins have been doing their part and planning is still on going for the rehab area.

I am posting this as a blog and not begging for donations, but if any of you want to extend your help to these amazing creatures in any means, it will be much appreciated:

• Offer to foster
• Donate dog food, rice or sardines
• Even just joining us during the feedings
• Or through any other support you want

Sooner, we hope to cater all the needs of these stray animals by the grace of God.

We are PART-ILIGAN, In the Service of the Homeless, Helpless and Voiceless.

The Team will be having its 2nd Feeding this coming March 10, 2018, Saturday, in Barangays Del Carmen and Palao. For those who are interested to join, you can message me directly in facebook. For more details, don’t hesitate to comment below. God bless you!

XOXO,
Hazelwink 😉