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IWCT July 2005 NEWSLETTER - Part 1

Dear Friend

EATING DOG MEAT IS HAZARDOUS

THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL MEAT INSPECTION BOARD (NMIB), WHICH IS AN OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT, HAS NOW MADE A STATEMENT ON THE DANGERS OF EATING DOG MEAT. THIS WRITTEN STATEMENT IS BEING MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS CONCERNED.

To the best of my knowledge this is the very first time that any Philippine government department has openly come out with a strong statement against the dog traders and now accepts that there is a strong public health risk to those that eat dog. Please be assured that, armed with this, we will be following this up with vigorous lobbying of other relevant government officials.

This has happened as a direct result of me, and other senior staff of AKF, having a meeting some months ago with Directors of the NMIB. At that time, when I brought this subject up, I was told in no uncertain terms that eating dog was outside their remit. I replied by saying “I don’t believe I’m hearing what you are saying, you must be responsible for any meat that is consumed by the public, be it legal or illegal”. Some time later they agreed with me.

This should be a huge step forward for us. If the central government refuses to take notice of their own agency they surely will be leaving themselves open to mass criticism and we will be there to make sure that this happens.

The statement being used by the NMIB was written for us by Chris Laurence, QVRM TD, BVSc, MRCVS, Chief Veterinary Officer of the UK based Dog Trust. This document runs to several pages and due to lack of space, we are unable to reproduce it in full, but below are some of the highlights.

Food Poisoning: The symptoms of food poisoning are vomiting and diarrhoea. In more severe cases the toxins produced by bacteria have secondary effects on other organ systems such as liver, kidneys and heart and this may result in death. The most common organisms are Salmonella species, Campylobacter and some strains of E Coli. Dogs are commonly affected by all these organisms. However, as hygiene is understood to be of a generally very low standard and some meat is eaten raw, the risks of transmission must be very high. There is also a Corona virus which produces enteric symptoms in dogs. This is a potential cause for concern as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is also caused by a Corona virus.

Rabies: Rabies is endemic in Asia and a significant cause of death in humans and dogs. The usual manner of transmission is by biting. However, in the terminal stages of infection the virus is concentrated in the brain. If such tissue is poorly cooked and comes into contact with a break in the consumer’s skin, the human is likely to contract the disease. It is invariably fatal.

In May this year I had to go into hospital for a heart bypass operation, which prevented me from going to the Philippines in June. However, Alan Whittaker, a Trustee of AKF who is also very knowledgeable in animal welfare and a long-standing personal friend of mine, undertook the trip for me and below is his report on that trip. Happily I am now well on the road to recovery and I will be back in the Philippines throughout October.

By clicking on the link below you can also read a web version of the most recent newsletter sent out to our Philippine supporters by our organisation Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc, through which we work in the Philippines.

Yours sincerely

Click Here to read the second part of our July 2005 Newsletter ...................IT'S A BLOODY BUSINESS

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