Manila: Police rescued dozens of dogs that were bound up and crammed into a van for a suspected illegal sale to a slaughterhouse in the northern Philippines, officials said Friday.
After a tip from animal advocates, police officers seized the van in the northern province of Pangasinan and found 60 surviving dogs along with 12 that had suffocated, police superintendent Ronald Gayo said.
12 animals had suffocated
The dogs had their snouts and feet bound with plastic cords. The van's driver and his assistant were arrested and escorted to their destination - a slaughterhouse inside a sprawling pig and poultry farm in San Carlos township in northern Pangasinan province, Gayo said.
The slaughterhouse's owner and workers managed to flee when police arrived before midnight Wednesday. Killing dogs for the meat trade is illegal, but dog meat is considered a delicacy in some parts of the Philippines.
Officials said the dogs came from Laguna province near Manila. They were believed scheduled to be delivered to customers in the northern mountain resort city of Baguio, where back-street restaurants serve dog meat despite protests from animal rights advocates.
Gayo said the two arrested men and the slaughterhouse owner, who remains at large, have been charged with violation of the animal welfare act and the anti-rabies law.
Up to six years in jail
If found guilty of the two charges, they face a fine of up to six years' jail and fines of at least 5,000 pesos ($114) per dog. Supt. Marlon Tayaba, the town's police chief, said members of the Animal Kingdom Foundation, an animal rights group, tipped off police and brought oxygen tanks and first aid kits for the dogs during the raid.
The rescued dogs were turned over to the foundation. Tayaba said the dogs are usually sold at 800 pesos to 1,000 pesos ($18 to $23) each, and that the meat sells for 110 pesos ($2.5) per kilo. Delivery and slaughtering of dogs normally happen at night, so no trace of the trade is found by morning, Tayaba said.
