Just like purebreds: Native dogs need your love, too - City vet

CEBU, Philippines – Aimed to highlight the need for equal treatment of native or local dogs, the Cebu City Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries yesterday held its 7th Asong Pinoy Day at Plaza Independencia yesterday.

The celebration included contests (dog-owner paper dance contest, dog food or hotdog bobbing contest, potato and spoon race contest) where native dogs showed their abilities in doing various tricks.

DVMF Chief Alice Utlang said they wanted to change the people’s notion about native dogs and show them that native  dogs, if trained properly, also has the capacity to learn tricks.

“It’s because we wanted to inform and educate the public on the importance of Asong Pinoy.  Nalimtan nato ang atoang bred man gud.  Dapat atoa i-patronize ang atoa, dili ang laing bred,” she said.

Utlang said native dogs should be treated fairly or similarly with purebred dogs.

“Grabe kaayo ‘ta mopangga sa laing breed sa iro pero sa asong pinoy dili. If we train them and educate the dogs lang gyud, they can show their ability just like the others.  Naa ra gyud na sa paggalam,” she said.

She said native dogs deserve to feel loved, and the best way to show this is to give them proper food, appropriate shelter, and to educate them.

Meanwhile, Ryan Ong Cabahug president of K9 Cebu Agility Run Enthusiast, said he, too, wanted the public to appreciate the importance of native dogs.

He adopted native dog “Amiga”, which he trained and made to compete in national contests. He said Amiga was a stray he saw outside his previous workplace that he adopted and trained.

After undergoing a lot of training, Amiga joined national competitions where she was the only native dog. Cabahug said seeing Amiga perform the tricks inspired others like him from Manila and Davao to likewise train native dogs.

Aside from contests, the Asong Pinoy celebration also featured fun games like locate your treat, wheel of paw tune and balloon bursting. It also had a online and on-site competition for the “Asong Pinoy Top Model Year 2”,” My Asong Pinoy Rescue Story”, and “Best Looking Asong Pinoy”. Winners of each category received one bag of dog food, shampoo and soap.

DVMF also offered free veterinary services like anti-rabies vaccination, deworming and vitamin supplementation during the event, which was attended by more than three hundred people.

Utlang said she was thankful for the support of the city government, which showed that the administration is “animal friendly”. —/RHM (FREEMAN)