With animal shelters full, millions of stray dogs and cats roam the Philippines – but one clinic is offering a solution
- A small veterinary clinic in Manila is trying to stem the tide of stray animals being killed needlessly by providing free mass desexing programmes
- Many strays are abandoned family pets who end up in filthy city pounds described as houses of horror, where they are often shot dead
Scrawny cats sleeping on rubbish piles and mange-ridden dogs limping along the street are common sights in the Philippines.
Twelve million stray cats and dogs roamed the nation in 2019, according to the Philippines Animal Welfare Society. Each year, many thousands of the animals are euthanised in pounds or die of disease, hunger or wounds resulting from fighting.
One small veterinary clinic in Metro Manila is trying to stem this tide of strays with free mass desexing programmes, conducted as often as three times a month.
With local government funding, and the help of volunteers, the eight vets from the Philippine Pet Birth Control Centre Foundation clinic provide safe and speedy desexing procedures: the removal of part or the whole of an animal’s reproductive organs.
Vet and clinic founder Maricelle Licuanan, 41, says some strays in the Philippines were born on the streets, while others are abandoned family pets.
“Once these animals become an inconvenience to the owners, they are neglected or tossed onto the streets. Most of them are intact [unsterilised] so they mate with other strays and more unwanted animals are born. Sadly, it’s a never-ending cycle,” says Licuanan, whose clinic desexed more than 60,000 animals between March 2017 and July 18, 2020.