TWENTY-SIX dogs and three cats were found dumped in a vacant lot in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, inside individual plastic bags that had names and weight specifications labeled on them, an animal welfare group said over the weekend.
Luna and Furry Siblings, on a Facebook post late Friday, said the 29 pets were “thrown away like trash” in the vacant lot.
The animals are identified as Sakura, Sweet, Brandon, Dara, Red, Dos, Ivy, Jedy, Crunch, Akira, and Jennifer, who are all dogs, while the cats’ names are Ira, Lucky, and Chelsea. Two dogs shared the name Brandon.
The group also posted several live videos and, on Saturday, returned to the vacant lot where they discovered the animals, saying the owners of an unnamed pet crematorium admitted that they handled these animals.
“We are waiting, just to make sure that’s in writing and as soon as it’s done, we’re going to release the name and hopefully retrieve these pets. We will update everybody on this and let you guys know what’s happening,” the group said in a live video on Saturday.
The animal rescue service also said the dogs and cats will be reburied in another location.
The Manila Times has tried reaching out to the animal rescue service but has not returned calls as of press time.
A pet crematorium based in Cavite was named as the one behind the dumping of the animals, and has since deactivated its Facebook and Instagram pages following the discovery of the pets.
The Manila Times also tried reaching the pet crematorium on Saturday.
Luna and Furry Siblings, along with the Animal Kingdom Foundation, called on pet owners who recently lost their pets to check the records.
The animal rescue service tapped an animal clinic to lend them a microchip scanner to find a registration chip on the animals but said none of them had one.
“Did you trust a clinic, handler, or aftercare provider with a pet matching one of these names and weights? If you paid a business to handle your pet’s remains with dignity, they may have defrauded you and dumped them in a vacant lot instead,” Luna and Furry Siblings wrote.
“Please check your vet records and receipts. If you recognize your pet’s name and weight, message us privately right now. Your paperwork will be the smoking gun we need to nail the exact establishment responsible for this heartless, illegal act... We cannot rest. We need the power of the internet to find the owners of Sakura, Brandon, Chelsea, and the rest of these babies,” they added.
Youth organization Angat Kabataang San Joseño called on the local government of San Jose del Monte and other appropriate authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and identify those responsible.
“We hope that available CCTV footage, witness accounts, and other pieces of evidence will be properly examined to establish what truly happened. We also urge the authorities to take the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the group said on Friday night.
“We believe that animal welfare should not be taken lightly. This incident deserves proper attention, and those found responsible must be held accountable in accordance with the law,” they added.
Animal Kingdom Foundation on Saturday called on the public to search for the pets’ owners and to trace those responsible for dumping the 29 dogs and cats.
“We are appealing to pet owners who recently lost a pet or availed cremation and aftercare services in SJDM and nearby areas to check their records and receipts,” the foundation said on Saturday.
“Someone entrusted these animals’ remains to a service provider. They deserved dignity, not to be dumped like garbage,” they added.
Not the first time
The foundation also said that it was not the first time a case of animal dumping happened this year alone.
“Similar reports of animal dumping surfaced as early as May, when only two dogs were identified. Now, another disturbing incident involving 29 dogs has been reported in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan,” Animal Kingdom Foundation said on Saturday.
“The pattern is alarming. These animals were not simply abandoned; they were discarded, as if their lives meant nothing,” it added.