THE People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced that the Japanese government has decided to stop conducting year-long tests on dogs, particularly beagles, to study the potential effects of pesticides on people.

After hearing from PETA U.S. scientists for the past three years, the Japanese government made the decision to end the cruel tests wherein beagles are forced to eat pesticide-laced food or inhale pesticide fumes daily for a year and are then killed and dissected. PETA U.S. repeatedly provided evidence that data from these tests are not used to protect humans.

At the urging of PETA U.S., the U.S. ended this same test in 2007, the European Union ended it in 2013, and Canada followed suit in 2016, sparing thousands of dogs annually. Japan will now join the growing list of countries that have made the right decision for dogs and for science.

PETA U.S. and PETA Asia are urging other countries, including South Korea, to end their requirement for one-year pesticide testing on dogs, and are working to end all pesticide testing on dogs and all other animals.  -- MetroPets

By ALMA J. BUELVA

THE Philippine market is sorely lacking its very own locally produced cat food, but that could change if the first set of trials spearheaded by a doctoral student succeeds. 

Five cat food flavors, all using squash as major ingredient, are undergoing market tests and could be the start of a local brand that can help farmers and give cat owners an alternative to imported cat food products.

​Hazel Alfon, who is taking up Doctor in Business Administration from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, developed her own kitty fare for her research project in functional strategy and business ethics.

A cat lover herself, she wanted to cook up something inexpensive but nutritious for cats and at the same time create an opportunity for squash growers to sell more of their crop. 

​“What prompted me to do the study is the surplus of squash during harvest time. Lugi yung farmers, halos ipamigay na yung kalabasa nila. (Farmers lose...almost giving their squash away).

With both the cats' and farmers' welfare in mind, Alfon set about baking her first handmade dry kibble. She soon, however, switched to wet cat food as she believes cats need it more to supplement their water intake. 

A licensed chemist, Alfon told MetroPets that she did extensive research on the kinds of food that are good and bad for cats. She also took samples of her squash-based cat food to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) for analysis. In addition, she consulted with veterinarians to make sure her cat food is safe. Later on, she used social media networks to invite cat owners to try her products for free.

“My cat food are all-natural, human grade and with no salt and chemical pre-treatment,” Alfon said.

Alfon added that she uses from 80 to 90 percent fish, beef, chicken breast, liver or gizzard. The rest are vegetables, particularly squash.

The results are the following variants:
* Salmon with carrots, green beans and kalabasa (squash)
* Ox tripe with chicken liver and kalabasa
* Tuna with kalabasa
* Chicken with kalabasa
* Beef with carrots, green peas and kalabasa

​Sealed silver pouches, each containing 85 grams of any of the five flavors, were shipped to market testers who volunteered to feed it to their cats for seven days. Alfon said the most common feedback she received pertains to cats' poop becoming less stinky or even stink-free! 

MetroPets' resident cat reviewers tested Alfon's homemade cat food and while they showed indifference at first, they soon acquired the taste and feel for it. The top hits were the squash with chicken and squash with beef. Used to the texture of paté, the cats set aside morsels of ox tripe. They ate the fish variants with no complain but also with less gusto.

Meanwhile, Alfon told MetroPets that she has started work on another cat food specifically for lactating cats.  

If all goes well with her cat food, Alfon said she plans to turn it into a business and share her revenues with animals shelters.

EFFORTS are underway to recover the cats that were recently removed from a public park inside the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) by Pest Busters Philippines under the orders of Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila.

Members and volunteers from CARA Welfare Philippines and cat advocates from the Facebook group Cats of BGC met today to conduct a search and rescue operations in the two areas where the cats were supposedly “relocated”. As of this writing, no cat has been reportedly recovered. 

Meanwhile, an online petition seeking to enlist the help of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to pressure the hotel management to return the cats of BGC began today. The petition is quickly reaching its targeted number of online signatures. In less than a day, almost 4,000 (as of 6:30 p.m., Feb. 19) signatures were recorded, an indication of how strongly animal lovers feel about the issue.  -- METROPETS

​#findingcatsofbgc

THE disappearance this week of a significant number of cats from a protected colony that inhabit a public park in Bonifacio Global City near a major five-star hotel has enraged cat lovers in the country who are sending a firestorm of criticisms directed to the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila for apparently instigating it.

MetroPets is yet to hear from the hotel's public relations executive contacted to comment on the matter. However, the hotel has issued a second statement to clarify what transpired and the next steps it would take. Here's a photo of the statement dated February 18:

The new statement comes on the heels of mounting pressure from cat lovers who have taken to social media to denounce the relocation of the BGC cats. At the very least, it offered information on where the cats were taken -- Ilaya Street and Anastacio Street in Taguig City. Vigilant followers of this news, however, pointed out that no such streets exist in Taguig and that said street names don't appear on Google Map or even in Uber's system. But if these two streets are really in Taguig, the Shangri-La at the Fort's latest statement didn't offer an explanation why these residential areas were deemed ideal relocation sites for the cats. It is also not clear if permissions from the local government or even the barangay were sought or if the residents were informed that 11 cats were to be left in their neighborhood.

The hotel management also stated that they would help rescue and return the cats back to the BGC park. Again, some were not pleased by this promise, pointing that only animals that were in danger or put at risk need rescuing.

​Meanwhile, cat lovers continue to cry out for justice on behalf of the beloved cats whose removal from the park was reportedly done by Pest Busters Philippines which was hired by the premier hotel before Valentine's Day. 

People who frequent the High Street Park to commune with the cats quickly noted their absence, so they took to social media to sound the alarm. On February 15, the key people behind the Facebook page Cats of BGC met with the management of Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila to discuss what happened to the cats. The next day, February 16, both parties posted their respective statements.

The Cats of BGC noted that although they were personally outraged by the incident, “Shangri-La (at the Fort, Manila) has seen the error in their ways and offered their support in promoting awareness” towards cat adoption. The statement called it “good news” and that there's reason to hope that the incident “can serve as a lesson to everyone, and finally stop the misconception that removing even the friendly, fit and fixed free-roamers can keep an area cat-free.”

For its part, Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila posted in its Facebook page a 95-word statement to basically say that the cats have been relocated and are well. Here's the original statement:

Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila
February 16 at 7:00pm · 
Last February 14, 2018, we received inquiries on social media regarding the cats from the park beside the hotel. We would like to assure everyone that no harm has been done to the cats that have been relocated. In fact, more than half of them have been adopted by hotel employees. The others were relocated to two locations within Taguig. The hotel management has met with CARA Welfare Philippines and Cats of BGC last February 15, 2018 and discussed a long-term cooperation to ensure the welfare of the cats at the adjacent High Street park.

The statement, however, proved to be another disaster as it only raised more questions and observations highly critical of the hotel's action against the helpless cats. 

People have repeatedly demanded for the hotel to reveal the two locations where Pest Busters allegedly brought the cats. They also want the hotel employees who supposedly adopted some of the cats to prove it by posting photos of their new pets. So far, the hotel management has offered the exact locations but no hotel employee has come forward to prove that he or she has adopted one of the missing cats of BGC. 

Still unsatisfied by the second statement from Shangri-La at the Fort, cat lovers continue to post their views on the matter in the Cats of BGC page and in closed Facebook groups for cat lovers. More importantly, they are flooding with negative comments the hotel's Facebook page and related travel portals. They are also hitting hard the social media accounts of Pest Busters Philippines for apparently violating provisions of the country's Animal Welfare Act.

In a new twist, some people who left blistering comments on the hotel's page said their posts have been tagged as spam and subsequently been deleted. Others claimed they started experiencing being locked out of their Facebook accounts or blocked to visit the hotel's page after they decried animal abuse. -- METROPETS

​SPOTIFY is getting a spot (pun intended) in the matchmaking business by using its music streaming service to find the right shelter dog for the right person. The program is aptly called Adoptify.

Since it has been established that dogs have their own individual music preferences, Spotify has partnered with an animal shelter in Germany to match people and adoptable dogs based on their song choices.

A brainchild of the agency called Serviceplan, Adoptify makes use of a website that features dogs ready for adoption at a shelter in Munich. Aside from giving out standard information on the dog's gender, age and breed, Adoptify adds the kind of music each dog prefers. A potential dog owner can watch the personalized videos about the dogs and from there choose to adopt the one that sings his or her tune, so to speak. -- MetroPets

#adoptify #shelterdogs #musicaldog #dogsandmusic @spotifyanddogs

​THE National Audubon Society has announced that 2018 is the Year of the Bird! 

This is not about keeping birds as pets, but about appreciating and protecting them.

The Audubon, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of all kinds of birds in the world, together with National Geographic, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdLife International are joining forces with more than 100 other organizations and millions of people around the world to celebrate 2018 as the “Year of the Bird.”

​This effort aims to heighten public awareness of birds because of their wonder and beauty—and because they symbolize nature’s interconnectedness and the importance of caring for our shared planet. 

To get started, visitors to BirdYourWorld.org will discover simple but meaningful steps that anyone can take to help birds each month and join a pledge to participate. 

Through 12 months of storytelling, science research and conservation efforts, Year of the Bird will examine how our changing environment is driving dramatic losses among bird species around the globe and highlight what we can do to help bring birds back.

The campaign's hashtag, #BirdYourWorld throughout 2018, will also utilize National Geographic’s portfolio of media platforms reaching millions of people around the world with engaging bird content that will educate, inspire and raise awareness about the challenges that birds are facing and what people can do to help.

“Birds inspire us and have an almost magical way of bringing us together—and when we act together on behalf of birds, we can accomplish truly meaningful things,” says Mark Jannot, vice president of content for Audubon, and the Editor-in-Chief of Audubon magazine. – MetroPets

​#BirdYourWorld

​THE Bureau of Animal Industry in partnership with the Technological Institute of the Philippines recently launched their own free Android application aimed at improving public awareness about animal rabies.

The Rabies Free 2020 app is available for download in Google Play Store. The app is pretty straightforward and simple in style and function.

​The app has five sections that provide an overview about rabies, list of animal bite centers, locations of animal rabies diagnostic laboratories nationwide,  hotlines and contact information, and about the app development.

The Rabies Free 2020 app makes a barking sound when a new section is opened. The text are in Filipino and there are links to existing rabies-free campaign videos from the BAI like the one below. 

The app gives general information about rabies from symptoms, phases and prevention, among others. It seeks to guide the public, too, on how to become responsible pet owners to help prevent the spread of rabies. 

The Philippines aims to become completely rabies free by 2020. By 2030, the world is expected to have eradicated rabies completely.  --  MetroPets

#RabiesFreePhilippines

ARE you excited about the fact that 2018 turned out to be the Year of the Dog? Although the Chinese regard it as something that could have influence on peoples' lives for the next 12 months, dog lovers simply can't pass the chance to take it literally to let their pooches shine. But before we do that, here are just 10 basic things to remember about the Year of the Dog:

*  The Year of the Dog kicks in at the Chinese New Year which will be on Friday, the 16th of February.

* According to those who believe in the significance and symbolisms behind the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle, dog years could actually be unlucky for people born in previous years of the Dog.

* People born during the Year of Earth Dog (1958, 2018) are likely to be communicative, serious, and responsible in work – good qualities to have even in a dog.

* Three US Presidents were born in the Year of the Dog. They are George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Benjamin Franklin, one of America's Founding Fathers, was also born during the Year of the Dog.

* Other famous people born in the Year Of The Dog include: Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, Mother Teresa, Madonna, Ethan Hawke, Mariah Carey, Prince William, Queen Latifah and Socrates.

* In America last year, Max and Bella were the most popular names for a male and female dog, respectively. Wonder what would it be in 2018?

* There are estimated 70 million dogs in the United States and 11.6 million in the Philippines.

* There are about 340 breeds of dogs recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), the world governing body of dog breeds, sometimes known as the World Canine Organization.

* A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. (Josh Billings)

* Whatever the Year of the Dog brings, one thing is certain: Lucky are the dogs that have the love and care of a responsible owner.  --  MetroPets

​By 2030, the world is expected to have eradicated rabies for good. 

The Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) said the new target provides an annual marker to showcase progress at all levels – from the international to the community – towards every country’s rabies elimination efforts. 

The Philippines aims to make the country completely rabies-fress by 2020.

Rabies: Zero by 30, the theme for World Rabies Day, 2017, is being supported by local veterinarians, many of whom went door-to-door in depressed areas where high cases of rabies were recorded.

​Reuters reported that Filipino veterinarians, in partnership with the animal protection group Humane Society International (HSI), led the free mass vaccination drive using not just their syringes but also their smartphones to track areas of concern. 

HSI launched the rabies tracker smartphone app that records rabies inoculations and geotags dogs by location as a way to control the disease. 

The Bureau of Animal Industry placed the canine population in the Philippines at 10 million at least. The World Health Organization (WHO) said dogs without anti-rabies shots are the primary conduits (99 percent of cases) of the disease that spreads to humans. 

The HSI said cases of rabies in the Philippines are among the highest globally, with at least 200 Filipino deaths from the disease annually, mainly due to dog bites. Despite this alarming figure, the Philippines was ranked by WHO as among the countries making “great strides” in fighting the disease.

Aside from boxes of all shapes and sizes, cats are known to try to fit inside the most unconventional vessels such as bowls, glasses and tubes, among others. They also do it almost effortlessly as if they are truly in a liquid-like state.

​Pretty much like this cat in the video.

The Ig Nobel Prize is a parody of the Nobel Prize, which is awarded every autumn to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Since 1991, the Ig Nobel Prizes have been awarded to “honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.”

Presented at Harvard University by bemused real Nobel Prize laureates, the Ig awards are not an attempt at ridiculing science, the Ig Nobel website states.

“Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd, so can bad achievements,” it explains.

"A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity."

Aside from Fardin, 9 other researchers who invested time and money in solving life's improbable yet important questions from different fields were also honored in early September with Ig Nobels.

The theme of this year's Ig Nobels was "Uncertainty". -- AFP with notes from MetroPets

INSTAGRAM has bred a new form of celebrity—the dog. Man’s best friend has become one of man’s biggest influencers with social petworking becoming an increasingly explored route for marketing and promotion. And currently, the hottest dog in Instagram is Jiffpom with 6.5 million followers as of September 9, 2017.

​To know the shakers and movers among dogs in Instagram, Lovejoy, a pet food maker from Norfolk, England, analyzed all the profiles of Instagram’s most popular breeds of dogs. Over the past few years the Pomeranian called “Jiffpom” has emerged as easily Instagram’s most followed pet. But how many of Jiffpom’s Instagram posts are organic and how many promote brands or other social media stars?

Lovejoy discovered that for those who manage the most successful Instagram dog accounts out there, their random, spur of the moment posts of dog pictures and videos make up only about a third of their content. Many are now cashing in on their dog's popularity by creating promotional and collaborative posts that endorse brands. 

​Data based on 50 posts analyzed from April 12-July 3 2017 showed that content posted on Jiffpom's Instagram page were 33 percent organic and 67 percent advertising-related. Jiffpom is so popular that he has appeared in adverts for Banana Republic and a music video for Katy Perry.

​Lovejoy's data analysis also showed that smaller breeds are followed by more people (78 percent of dog followers on Instagram) and therefore make for better influencers. The top seven most popular breeds all come in relatively miniature form.

When it comes to large breeds, the Husky seems to be the favorite, specifically Loki the Wolfdog with 1.5 million followers.

Dogs, with their googly eyes and funny peculiarities, have proven they can steal not just the hearts of people but also vie for endorsement projects that used to be reserved for humans. With endless possibilities for creating heartwarming content, it is easy to see why so many brands are jumping on this bandwagon where people don't just walk the dog but also follow the dog.

IF you are visiting Tagaytay, you may want to drop by the newly opened cat cafe located along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road for a quick get-together with their adorable cats.
​
Tabby Town is the first cat cafe this side of town. It is by the same owner of The Pet Cafe by Velvet Friends in Pasay City. 

Tabby Town had its soft opening early this month and it is looking forward to welcoming regular guests from the Calabarzon region as well as day trippers from Manila. 
​
Proprietor Chito Aclon designed Tabby Town to have a homey look and feel so that weary travelers can relax and enjoy the calming companionship of cats before they head out to their next destinations. Guests can also have a quick meal of pastas and drinks here.

​A good mix of purebred and native cats will make up Tabby Town's regular “crew” which currently stands at 17. Chito said they can have up to 30 domestic cats at Tabby Town. 

This cat cafe has three levels. The first level is the reception area, the second floor belongs to the cats while the third floor is being eyed as a place for Corgis and other dog breeds. 
​
Tabby Town is open six days a week, except Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its exact address is 410 Purok 5 Brgy Lumil, Silang, Cavite. Nearby landmarks are the entrance to Suntrust Verona Executive Village and a Caltex gas station.

By Alma J. Buelva

​​A CANINE behavior expert plans to open a unique dog training facility where the trainers will be former drug users. Second Life Academy aims to equip rehabilitated drug users with the right set of skills for basic dog training that they can use to find work later. 

The training will be offered for free to ex-drug offenders.

A brainchild of Ronald Lumbao, a professional canine behavior consultant and certified dog trainer with the International Positive Dog Training Association in Canada, Second Life looks at dog training as a way for some ex-drug dependents to re-enter society and succeed in getting a second chance as dog trainers. 

​The plan is to have three training schools located at Albay in Bicol and somewhere in Metro Manila and North Luzon. Although no facility is up yet, Lumbao said they are now ready to screen and accept applicants to start the first batch of 20 trainees this October. 

“Everything is ready except for the facility. We hope to have one fully operational by January 2018,” Lumbao said.

​To qualify for the program, Second Life wants applicants who finished high school at least and with recommendation from their barangay and support from their families. Aspiring dog trainers should also pass a written exam and interview to assess if they can work well with dogs. 

Each trainee must bring any breed of dog that is not more than three months old for training. Together, the student and the dog will train for 24 weeks. Lumbao said the course involves basic dog obedience training, dog psychology, housebreaking and common behavior problems, among others. The students, on the other hand, will go through theoretical and practical exercises. A certification and endorsement will be awarded to those who will complete and pass the course.

The course will also include work ethics, moral values, basic financial and business management and customer service. While in the program, the ex-drug user will benefit from the therapeutic effects of bonding with dogs, said Lumbao.

“Second Life is about training dogs and transforming former drug users into better persons...At the end of the course, the graduate is equipped with scientific training principles and the foundations for advanced training,” he added. 

To ensure the dogs' safety, Second Life promises to employ only positive training system and will not use nasty choke and prong collars on the dogs. 

“One of the reasons we are limiting the class to 20 people is to have close supervision...The dogs will be safe from any misuse or abuse of training tools. Trainees caught harming a dog will be expelled immediately,” said Lumbao who will conduct the training along with two other trainers. 

The real challenge at the moment is finding organizations to back up Second Life's charitable cause. Lumbao has submitted proposals to companies and a local government unit but has not received a definite support yet.

“For now, we have private individuals helping us,” Lumbao said, adding that there are four ways people and companies can support Second Life's mission of giving new lease of life to past drug offenders. 

To help Second Life:
* Endorse the program as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative
* Host a public seminar on Dog Life Balance
* Buy Lumbao's books (Mag Aso Ay Di Biro,  Nanaginip Ba Ang Aso, and Dog-Life Balance)
* Donate

To know more about Lumbao and his dog-centric undertakings and advocacies, visit traildogs.ph

CLASHES between the military and Maute Group of terrorists in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur have victimized not just thousands of people but also animals, particularly pet dogs and cats.

As residents flee following the declaration of martial law in their embattled city on May 23, many were unable to take their pets with them.

In an interview with MetroPets, Maria Ninotchka Herrera who lives in Marawi City, recalled how she and her family fled to Iligan City when the fighting started, taking her Siberian Husky Maya and her Japanese Spitz Misao with them. During the arduous nine-hour journey that normally takes only an hour, Herrera said she saw other people evacuating with their cats and dogs.​ 

A teacher from Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City, Herrera said some of her friends were forced to hastily leave their pets inside the campus with food and water good for three days. But as the fighting drags on, her friends now worry about their pets and are hoping to return to the university to secure them.

“I saw my friends' posts in social media and they are worried for their pets as we really don't know when we can go back to the campus,” she added.

Riz Sunio, a college professor from RC-Al Khwarizmi International College Foundation, Inc. located in downtown Marawi, was also forced to leave her two black kittens and their mother in a room inside a private boarding house at MSU. She left them last Tuesday (May 23) with about 400g of cat food and water, which she fears her cats have all consumed by now.

“I wanted to bring them with me in Lala, Lanao del Norte. I got an extra backpack to put them in, but because we would only hitch a ride I was advised not to, as having cats (during the trip) might be bothersome for other people,” Sunio said who added that she vehemently argued on behalf of her cats in vain.

Wawa, the mother cat, gave birth to Ling-ling and Tom-tom a little over a month ago. “The kittens have just learned to eat solid food. I hope they can make do with their mother's milk for now,” said Sunio.

In one of her recent Facebook posts, Sunio expressed her desperate desire to fetch her three cats “when the coast is clear.”

“They are family to me and family is not supposed to be abandoning one another,” Sunio said.

​Sunio's cats are holed up at a boarding house in PBB Extension, Barrio Dimalna II, Mindanao State University, Marawi City.

​Here's a short video of Tom-Tom and Ling-Ling playing together before the clashes started.

Like Sunio, many residents were also forced to leave their pets behind. Herrera said those who left their pets in their homes fear that their hungry animals might risk stepping outside to scavenge for food. Pets that were left tied or caged definitely face starvation and won't be able to hide from the dangers surrounding them.

Herrera and her dogs are fortunate to have reached Iligan safe and sound. She said it was “unthinkable” for them to leave their dogs behind, just like one of their neighbors who also evacuated Marawi with their four dogs, she added.

Herrera said her two five-year-old girls, Misao and Maya, get scared when they hear gunshots and explosions. She hopes that their photo taken just before they evacuated won't be their last picture in their house.

​There are no established animal welfare groups in Marawi City, Herrera said. A few private citizens have tried to rally pet lovers in social media to help the stranded pets in Marawi but so far nothing concrete has happened.

Marawi City also has its share of stray dogs and cats that are currently exposed to all sorts of dangers brought about by the military operations against the Maute Group of terrorists.

​ANIMAL lovers worldwide scored a huge victory after it was announced that dog and cat meat will be banned from this year's Yulin Festival in China.

The ban will come into effect on June 15, a week before the start of the gruesome festival that in recent years saw the slaughter of thousands of dogs and cats, many stolen from their owners, for their meat. 

Eleven million people around the world have signed the petition to stop the organizers and supporters of Yulin Festival from killing and consuming dog and cat meat by first bludgeoning them to death or even cooking them alive.

According to Andrea Gung, executive director of Duo Duo Animal Welfare Project, the ban ends the sale of dog meat in restaurants, markets and by streets vendors. Those who violate the ban will be arrested and fined up to 100,000 yuan (nearly $15,000).

Although it is only a temporary ban, Gung said it will hopefully lead to the collapse of the dog meat trade. Yulin Festival is not an old tradition but a mere creation of enterprising dog meat traders that started in 2009. Gung said the ban is consistent with how Yulin and the rest of the country are changing for the better.

Animal rights activists, campaigners and international celebrities like Ricky Gervais, Sharon Osbourne and the late Carrie Fisher were in the forefront of the fight against the unthinkable cruelty that thousands of innocent animals were subjected to for the ghastly dog meat festival. At its height, the 10-day Yulin Festival saw the deaths of up to 15,000 canine and other animals. 

The signature campaign, organized by the Humane Society International and other charities, was also instrumental in petitioning the local government to halt the practice of killing and eating dogs and cats in Yulin.  -- MetroPets

By ALMA J. BUELVA

EASTER is about triumph, redemption and new beginnings. It is a holy occasion that men and women reflect on to find meaning or purpose in their lives. 

Animals don't know Easter, although some of them have luckily experienced salvation and second chances, too. One of them is Sassy, a six-year-old female pit bull who had a dark past. Sassy used to viciously fight other pit bulls as victims of a brutal dog fighting syndicate that operated in the Laguna province.

On March 2012, Sassy and 265 other pit bulls were rescued. Some of them didn't last long in this world but others like Sassy managed to hold on while they are being rehabilitated at a private animal sanctuary. Sassy's fate even got better the day she was adopted into a loving home.

Sassy's life is an Easter story.  

Today, Sassy is a picture of happiness. To prove it, here are four photos taken during Black Saturday 2017. 

By ALMA J. BUELVA

THERE are still over 90 rehabilitated pit bulls at a shelter facility in Quezon province waiting to be adopted into loving homes. The dogs are part of the 266 pit bulls that CARA Welfare Philippines helped rescue from an infamous and brutal dog fighting syndicate back in March 2012.

Those who are interested to give the remaining pit bulls their permanent homes should coordinate with CARA by first visiting the helpsavethepitbulls.com website to know about the requirements for adopting a dog. Those who can't adopt but still wish to help may sign up as a volunteer or donate much-needed cash and items such as food and medicine.

Meanwhile, CARA continues with its latest fund-raising drive called “Give me 5” that seeks a minimum donation of P500 per person to cover the needs of one shelter animal and one Laguna Pitbull for one day. The animal welfare group estimates that each of their ward at least needs P250 a day for food, medicine, staff care and shelter.

ALSO READ: 
Support CARA's “Give me 5” fund drive for kitties and pitties

​CELEBRITY dog whisperer Cesar Milan is doing another round of search for new recruits that he could train as dog behaviorists. 

In a new season of Cesar's Recruit: Asia, Milan will go through the process of screening new dog trainers from eligible applicants who will be part of the show. 

To be considered, aspiring dog trainers in the Philippines and other parts of Asia should send their personal details and why they want to be chosen to casting@beachhousepictures.com. 

Show organizers said anyone who lives in Asia and is of Asian descent can apply. Participants vying to be the next Pack Leader of Milan are required to be available for up to four days of filming during May/June 2017.

​Last year, the reality TV named Ethan Loke, the sole Singaporean contestant, as Milan's first ever Asian Recruit. 

Cesar's Recruit: Asia airs on National Geographic Channel. -- MetroPets

CAT LADIES celebrate! You've all met your #funstatic #squadgoals of being recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary as a real collective word or term.

The leading word authority recently added 300 words and terms that have lately become part of the youth's vocabulary. The millennials and others older or younger than them are no stranger to the term cat lady, thanks to the abundance of cat images on the Net.

Cat lady is defined by Oxford as a noun that pertains to an older woman who lives alone with a large number of cats, to which she is thought to be obsessively devoted.

For some, the term cat lady still has a bit of uncomplimentary sound to it, but there's been an improvement in perceptions as more people, including males, proudly proclaim their love for cats.

Also included in the Oxford word collection update are new words like funtastic and squadgoals with meanings that all cat ladies can surely relate to.

​CARA Welfare Philippines is asking animal lovers and international welfare organizations to support its latest fund drive for the benefit of cats and dogs at its shelter and the Laguna Pitbulls.

The “Give me 5” campaign eyes a minimum donation of P500 per person which will cover the needs of one shelter animal and one Laguna Pitbull for one day. The animal welfare group estimates that each of their ward at least needs P250 a day for food, medicine, staff care and shelter.

​Those who want to help out can deposit their donations via the following bank accounts. For transparency, donors are requested to provide CARA with a digital copy of the bank deposit slip reflecting their donations.

For kitty donations:
CARA Welfare Phils. Via BPI C/A 3191-0467-05

For Laguna Pitbulls donations:
CARA Welfare Phils. Via BPI C/A 3121-1984-86