• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Animal welfare organizations have collectively condemned the operations of the Bacolod City Pound, launching a petition to relieve the head of the City Veterinary Office and to shut down the facility.
In a statement, Pawssion Project claimed the facility has become a ‘mass grave’ for dogs and cats, citing nearly a decade of alleged systematic animal neglect, cruelty, and gross mismanagement.
The group also detailed years of extensive financial and logistical support poured into the city-run facility, all of which they said was done with zero funding from the city government.
“The facility is not registered with the Bureau of Animal Industry because it fails to meet minimum standards for an animal pound,” the group said.
The petition, accessible via an online form, stated that once it reaches 5,000 signatures, they will formally request the assistance of Animal Kingdom Foundation to pursue the case before the Ombudsman and Department of Interior and Local Government.
The group are urgently calling on Bacolod residents to sign a petition demanding accountability from the City Veterinarian, who they accused of failing to establish sustainable welfare programs or transparency since 2015.
They also appealed to Mayor Greg Gasataya to intervene with the situation.
They also urged Bacolod residents to adopt and foster the animals.*
