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IWCT July 2005 NEWSLETTER - Part 2

IT'S A BLOODY BUSINESS – a report by Alan Whittaker

It's the stench you do not forget. Fear stinks.

The dogs, nine of them, had been rescued by the Animal Kingdom Foundation. They were in the back of the AKF truck which was parked in the shade of a police station - the dogs were evidence - and they were being fed and given water. They were free from the threat of slaughter, but they were a piteous sight. All of them were s alivating in streams. The s aliva was simply pouring out of their mouths. They were not interested in the food; their appetites would return much later. Well, it would for some of them. Most of the dogs stood with heads hanging, some just lay inert on the floor. You could almost touch the hopelessness. All were distressed. All had dull, lifeless coats. Most were hyperventilating. One dog, darker than the others, tried to make his own personal space, impossible in the circumstances. He barked weakly at the others. He was ignored. They were too stressed to react. They were all in their own individual worlds of horror, particularly the little fawn and white bitch making herself as small as possible in a corner. She was traumatised. She was in her own private hell.

Outside, in the sunshine of the Philippines, after their rescue from a slaughterhouse, when they were no longer in danger of the knife or the blowtorch, those eight dogs were stinking of fear. It's a smell you do not forget.

The eaters of pulutan, snacks made of dog meat, rarely if ever see the cruelty behind their self-indulgent habit. But people like Renato Camarillo know about it at first hand. They cause it.

Camarillo is an amateur killer of dogs, but he is a very experienced one. He's been butchering lost, stolen, and bought dogs for years. What Camarillo does is illegal and cruel. But he does not do it furtively in some remote corner. His slaughterhouse is at the back of his dingy cafe where he lives with an extended family. The cafe is in the market of the small town of Bani in Pangasinan province on the main Philippines island of Luzon. When we, the AKF team and the local members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the national police force AKF works with, burst into the killing room at the back of the house, we witnessed a scene out of the Middle Ages. An animal was hanging by its nose from a hook in the ceiling. Its fur had been burnt off and it was barely recognisable as a dog. It was just a blackened carcass. Standing next to the suspended body was Camarillo, blowtorch in hand. There were sharp knives and hatchets strewn around and a plastic bowl was three quarters full of blood. The earth floor was still wet from the water that had been slopped over it to wash away more blood. Chickens were roaming the dark, cramped room, and a small boy of six or seven, thought to be Camarillo's grandson, was also walking around. Seeing dogs slaughtered was nothing out of the ordinary for him.

The dogs waiting their turn for the knife were crammed into two far-too-small cages on the floor. The slaughtering took place a couple of feet from them. This is sadistic, an added and totally avoidable cruelty. The dogs, all of them, sat silent. It is tempting to say watching and waiting. There was no barking, no scratching at the bars, no trying to escape. That in itself speaks volumes.

In order to get the dogs out of the cages the AKF team had to break the bars with bolt cutters. One dog, not re alising it was with friends, clamped its teeth to the cage in an attempt to avoid being taken out.

Camarillo showed no remorse when arrested, only surprise and a slight indignation. He said he had a heart condition and would have either a stroke or a heart attack if taken to the police station some fifty kilometres away. He even had the gall to suggest we take one of his sons/accomplices instead of him! This obese dog butcher had been arrested while still holding the blowtorch. The police seemed to be weakening a little, so I reminded them that the law had been broken, the perpetrator caught in his own illegal slaughterhouse, and that justice had to be done. Camarillo had to be taken to the police station for "processing". The prisoner was allowed a shower and a change of clothes - the police were more indulgent than I would have been! - and taken off for questioning. I confess, and I was not the only one, that seeing Camarillo having his fingerprints taken was very satisfying. While our investigators drove off with the rescued dogs, I stayed behind to make sure the butcher of Bani was securely put in the police van. This happened in full view of the crowd that always gathers on these occasions. When I suggested that many of the onlookers were dog-eating customers, the inspector nodded in silent agreement.

Camarillo, and particularly his wife, did not enjoy the crowd's presence, but the AKF team did, and so did the police. The onlookers now know from personal experience that AKF will bring dog killers to justice and that eating dogs has to cease. Word of mouth is the most powerful publicity.

The Bani raid illustrated yet again, that eating dog meat is a health hazard because, among other reasons, the killing is unhygienic. It also showed that children are being brut alized by being "educated" into thinking that cruelty is normal. AKF learned this a long time ago; unfortunately, the authorities are often slow learners.

One dog, as often happens, stands out from the rest of the nine. She is young, beautiful, and still thinks man is her best friend. In a cage in the slaughterhouse, when the dogs were being rescued, she perked up and slowly wagged her tail. She gently licked the hands of her rescuer and, when she was in the lorry after the raid, she looked about her and occasionally, softly, wagged her tail. She had so obviously been a much-loved pet. Presumably, she had been picked up in the street. Somewhere, possibly a child, somebody is missing a friendly, too-trusting little dog.

As you will see from this newsletter and the enclosed AKF newsletter, we are making progress in bringing about the demise of the dog trade albeit we still have a way to go and my hope is that you will feel the same way as I do inasmuch as we are closing down the illegal dog slaughterhouses and rescuing many dogs, the problem is the same as always the more work we undertake, the more money it all costs and we are continuously relying on your generosity which goes without saying is immensely appreciated to continue this vital work. We ask that if it is at all possible would you please make as generous a donation to us as is possible.

On behalf of the innocent dogs in the Philippines we truly thank you for caring.

Yours sincerely

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...................Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc

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