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Dog-killing case in Philippines sparks anger, Senate debate for tougher laws
- #JusticeforKillua went viral after a golden retriever named Killua was found dead by its owner after a neighbour allegedly bludgeoned it to death
- Social media fury over the dog’s death coincided with a lawmaker’s calls to pass revised animal welfare measures
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Social media outrage over a golden retriever which was beaten to death by a man in the Philippines has heightened calls to strengthen laws that safeguard animal welfare.
Filipinos expressed their anger online as the hashtag #JusticeforKillua dominated social media platforms such as Facebook and X – the latter of which saw nearly 70,000 tweets, with major celebrities chiming in.
Killua, a three-year-old Golden Retriever, was found stuffed inside a sack in the town of Bato, Camarines Sur province on March 17 after a man, a neighbour of the owner and a village officer, admitted to killing the dog in a video taken by the owner.
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“I love him so much. We found his lifeless body inside a sack,” owner Vina Arazas said in a Facebook post, which was shared nearly 300,000 times. CCTV footage from the owner further showed the man had relentlessly chased the dog with a wooden plank and bludgeoned it to death.
Social media users have tagged the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a non-governmental organisation that provides legal help for pet owners and citizens against animal cruelty.
“We weren’t even aware of [Killua’s incident] at first because PAWS deals with cruelty reports on a daily basis, to which we’d always ask [online users] to share their affidavits so we can help them file a case,” Anna Cabrera, PAWS executive director, told This Week in Asia.
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