ANIMAL CRUELTY IN DIFFERENT FORMS

I realize that pork (like rice and fish) is and has been a staple of the Filipino diet, being cheaper than beef and other meat. Plus, there’s pride in having lechon as a national dish. But it’s still heartbreaking to see how pigs are treated and slaughtered everywhere.

It’s not much different from how people in China treat their own pigs, stuffed into baskets to be transported long distances, then butchered even before ensuring that they’re dead. Unfortunately, there are no stun guns used on pigs, cows and sheep as in the West which are used on those animals before they are killed.

It’s perhaps an indulgence to romanticize the animals that humans eat. There was an Australian film in 1995, “Babe,” about a heroic pig. In 2000, the animated British film “Chicken Run” was about how a flock of chickens were saved from the ax. And the more recent Korean Netflix movie “Okja” was about the trials of a giant pig’s life.

Animal cruelty everywhere also extends to the way dogs are kept chained all day, often underfed and dehydrated . Too many humans are unaware, or don’t care, that these animals are sentient beings. This is why organizations like Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and other such agencies exist. In Cebu where I live, I know of two European gentlemen who rescue stray dogs and even cats, and run shelters for them. Sadly, there’s little or no support for such work from the local community.