Best Posts in Thread: Negros Chronicle

hmmm,, such a huge and complicated problem. To understand maybe where I am coming from let me explain. I am an animal lover, I am not ashamed to admit that. If some one calls me a "bleeding heart liberal" for that, whatever ! I believe in compassion and standing up and helping any creature that cannot stand up and defend themselves. That extends to dogs, cats other animals as well as to abused kids and women, or a weak geek being picked on by a schoolyard bully. That does not make me a hero or a saint, but it does allow me to look in the mirror each morning and be proud of who I am. I am a meat eater and not a vegetarian. You will never find me holding a sign at a PETA rally whining about the cow,pig or chicken that was killed to put food on the plates of me and my family. I have personally killed animals for my food, but done so in the most humane way possible with respect for the animal I was killing. I have killed animals to put them out of their misery of suffering which they had no hope of recovering from. I did that with sadness every time. I have not had to, but would have no issue killing a coyote if I was a farmer and that coyote was killing my livestock, nor would I have a problem shooting a bear or mountain lion that came at me in the bush.

However, I would never shoot a stray dog on the street because he just happened to be a nuisance to me! Me, with the power of a gun in my hand looking down the sights at a defenseless creature whose only crimes were having been born into a life within a country whose people do not give a crap about animals, and that he might have irritated me. That would not make me a man, in my eyes or in the eyes of anyone I respect.

Now, where of course it gets very very complicated. We do live in the Philippines. A country that hardly shares my compassion for living creatures. The realities here are completely different than what I had grown up naively believing were consistent the world over. As much as I love Filipinos, the country and their culture in many ways, this issue is one I have real problems with. Everyday I will see dozens of cats and dogs, as well as children that are living a life of misery, and the people in this country do not care, nor will they help. The misery and need is so vast and the ability to make a difference is so small. Anything I have attempted to do had little effect and seems most often pointless.

Can this problem of stray dogs be solved? Not by the guy who has volunteered to shoot them, and not by an endless series of laws that will not be implemented. Only way it will be solved is by a complete change in the Filipino Psyche allowing them to figure out a compassionate and effective way to deal with the problem and then the will and efficiency to follow up. Maybe one day that will happen, but I am not naive enough to believe it will be in my lifetime.

What can I do? Sadly not much. I can however not allow myself to lose my compassion, nor become like the people who I feel have "got it wrong". I can and hopefully always will allow my actions to be guided by my compassion. I will not allow my heart to become dark, just because it seems the easy thing to do.

Gord

 

Tons of threads and comments on that.
The traffic problem cannot be blamed on just a few types of vehicles/drivers. Traffic laws need to be enforced, traffic signs/lights installed, drivers licenses/vehicle registrations properly issued, driver education/safety courses, a culture that results in more courteous behavior (changing from a selfish clan based society to one that cares for advancement of the entire country), major improvements in the infrastructure.....the list goes on. Traffic is going to suck in the Philippines for quite some time and only get worse as their population explodes and their infrastructure remains the same. It is something you just have to deal with it avoid if you plan on living here (both Filipino and foreigner).

 

I would prefer not to kill dogs (or any animal) but the strays here are dangerous. They carry diseases and cause countless traffic accidents (resulting in many human deaths and serious injuries). There are just to many to save, the vast majority of them need to be put down and out of their misery. You are welcome to use the forum to start such an rescue center though.