CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines – Tourism officials and entrepreneurs in this former US military base are eyeing a neglected pet cemetery as a tourist attraction.
The small burial spot located at Clark Expo was started by pet-loving Americans stationed at the former US Air Force base.
Buried in the 100-square-meter cemetery are pets, mostly dogs, named “Pig,” “Tiger” and “Wolf.” Others were called “Roxanne,” “Restus,” “Storm,” and “Raleigh.”
The military base was founded in 1901 but fell into disuse in 1991. The cemetery too had fallen into disrepair.
Unlike the Clark Cemetery some three kilometers away, no hauntings were reported in the pet cemetery.
“Neither the Bible nor the Catholic church says anything about the souls of animals surviving death like the spiritual souls of humans,” said Fr. Rafael de la Cruz, parish priest of Barangay Sta. Teresita in nearby Angeles City.
The late Pope John Paul II once said animals possess the “spark of God.” Pope Benedict XVI, when he was still cardinal, was known to have sheltered injured cats in his own home.
Clark Development Corp. president and chief executive officer Benigno Ricafort said the pet cemetery will be preserved to provide tourists another point of interest in the commercial zone.