The City Council committee on health is looking to partner with the City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO) and pet advocates for the implementation of Ordinance No. 0171-14 or the “The Davao City Adopt a Dog (DAD) ordinance.”
The city government is finalizing the IRR on the dog adoption in coordination with animal welfare groups.
The CVO submitted on Wednesday an IRR draft for the proposed ordinance during a committee hearing initiated by the Committee on Health.
Under the ordinance, the city will exhaust all means to save the lives of a dog and shall resort to euthanasia “only as the last and desperate resort.”
Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte, head of the committee on health, suggested during the committee hearing on Wednesday to turn over the dogs to pet advocates after three days since they have the capacity to take care for them.
Villafuerte, meanwhile, stressed there was no plan to limit the number of dogs and that this was only one of the items brought up during an early committee hearing as a best practice of other countries.
The overall goal, she said, was the “overall protection” of the entire dog population.
The CVO assured that they will be coordinating with the animal rights groups, non-government agencies and other interested individuals “to strengthen adoption efforts for the unclaimed and rescued dogs.”
According to the CVO assistant veterinarian, Dr. Esther Cherrie G. Rayos, they really need the help from pet lovers because the CVO has no sufficient manpower and resources to take care of all the impounded dogs.
She also added that the planned impounding facility in Malagos, Calinan can only accommodate about 50 dogs.
After the impounding, owners will be given only three days to claim their dogs.
As three days expires, dogs will be classified for the purpose of either permanent or temporary adoption.
