The city council has approved Ordinance 19, s. 2021 or the “Responsible Dog Ownership Ordinance of Baguio City,” which consolidates national laws and local enactments on the rules in the care, maintenance, and disposition of dogs and the responsibilities of their owners under Republic Act 8485, or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998, RA 9482 or the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007, and various city resolutions and ordinances.
The measure is not a mere collection of rules on dogs for nuisance prevention and rabies eradication, but for the welfare of dogs and for the benefit of owners and the community.
In the ordinance, dog owners are required to acquire and maintain dogs only if they are capable of providing the care necessary for their needs, submit the dogs for mandatory registration and regular vaccination and maintain updated records, and provide their dogs with grooming and adequate food and clean shelter.
Owning or keeping any dog three months of age and unregistered with the City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) or at the barangay is prohibited. Dogs must be registered through a method at the option of the dog owners, such as microchipping, use of a tag, or other safe and reliable means like the use of radio-frequency identification and shall be issued with certificate of registration.
All dogs must be vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian or a trained vaccinator under direct veterinary supervision.
Registration fee is P50 which includes the certificate of registration. Reissuance of certificates that are lost, damaged, or updated costs P100 and payment of microchip implanted at the CVAO is P400.
Rabies vaccination rendered by the CVAO will be charged P80 per dog. Anti-rabies vaccination is free of charge during occasions like the Pasadang Pambarangay, first week of March in celebration of the Anti-Rabies Month; World Rabies Day; and when the vaccines were obtained free of charge.
Fees for other vaccinations are canine parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, and leptospirosis (5 in 1) –P350/dog; canine parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza, leptospirosis, and coronavirus (6 in 1) – P450. /dog; and kennel cough/pneumonia – P450/dog.
Any dog found outside the premises of the owner shall be on a leash or any other device or held by a person that controls the dog, otherwise it shall be considered as a stray and shall be seized by any authorized personnel.
The owner shall not tie the dog or put it in any animal cage outside the owner’s private property such as in sidewalks, alleys, waterways and all other public places.
All impounded dogs seized by authorized personnel shall be delivered to the City Animal Pound for safe keeping. The owners are required to pay the impounding fee – P500 per dog and maintenance fee – P50 per dog per day. Adoption fee is P650 per dog.
The CVAO shall dispose unclaimed impounded dogs after three working days pursuant to RA 9482. The unclaimed dogs shall be disposed by adoption, donation to veterinary school or laboratories for scientific studies, turnover to accredited animal shelter, or euthanasia in the order they are enumerated.
The ordinance declares it unlawful to bring into the city any dog not vaccinated with anti-rabies from point of origin. Valid anti-rabies vaccination certificate and veterinary health certificate shall be presented for inspection before entry. Dogs shall be vaccinated with anti-rabies not more than one year but not less than 14 days at the time of the shipment. For annual booster shots, the dogs may be shipped immediately upon vaccination.
Only animals aged 3.5 to four months and above shall be allowed for shipment. Dogs entering the city shall be transported humanely in accordance with RA 8485 and issuances of the Department of Agriculture, that all animals being transported shall be accompanied with a valid Veterinary Health Certificate and shipping permit from the point of origin.
Inhumane transport and violation of the veterinary certificate policy shall cause the immediate impounding of dogs including the vehicles used to transport them by the police who shall turn over them to the city veterinarian, the pound keeper, barangay tanod, barangay officials or any authorized officer for delivery to the city dog pound for proper disposal.
Violators shall suffer a fine of not more than P10,000 and/or imprisonment for six months upon discretion of the court as per RA 8485.
In accordance with RA 9482, the CVAO shall undertake measures to control the dog population and minimize the number of unwanted stray dogs by way of spaying or neutering at the expense of the owner. CVAO charges for spaying is P1,500 per dog and P1,000 per dog for castration.
Dogs that have been impounded three times shall only be released after having been spayed or neutered at the expense of the owner.
All fees/penalties and other charges collected by the CVAO shall be put in a trust fund to be used for the implementation of the provisions of this ordinance.
Meanwhile, through Resolution 76, s. 2021, the city council deplored the use and circulation of educational modules that demean the Igorots.
The resolution also urged the Department of Education central office, DepEd regional offices, and the schools division offices to rectify learning materials prejudicial to indigenous peoples and to further strengthen their quality assurance mechanism to make sure that all learning modules, textbooks, and educational materials undergo proper assessment, evaluation before publication, release, and distribution.
The resolution expects prompt action and proactive measure from the DepEd to rectify demeaning, maligning, misleading and erroneous information.
Further, the resolution expressed support to DepEd-Cordillera’s various efforts to stop the discrimination.
July 27, 2024
