MANILA, Philippines -- President Ferdinand Marcos is considering using his emergency powers to stop the slaughter of dogs, cats and other pets for 'commercial and culinary purposes.'
A government announcement Saturday said Marcos found existing laws inadequate to curb cruelty to animals following an international outcry agaisnt the trussing of dogs before being butchered by dogmeat fanciers.
The law covering the brutal treatment of dogs was passed 43 years ago when the Philippines still was under American colonial rule. It punishes dog tormentors with a maximum jail term of two months.
The government said the president had ordered a study into the 'necessity of issuing a presidential decree prohibiting the sale and slaughter of dogs, cats and other household pets for commercial and culinary purposes.'
Although Marcos lifted eight years of martial law in January 1981, he is empowered to issue legislation if he thinks it is urgently required. The government said Marcos had consulted members of the legislature which is in recess, and they approved of his issuing the decree.
Marcos at the same time ordered the investigation of a government prosecutor for releasing a dogmeat trader arrested for transporting dogs in cages to a market. The prosecutor said the trader was actually only transporting the dogs and was not mistreating them.
The current drive against cruelty to dogs was prompted by an expression of 'repugnance' by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher last year after she saw a photo in a London newspaper of a dog being prepared for slaughter in the Philippines.
