BAGUIO CITY – The City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) underscored that individuals interested to adopt dogs that are not being redeemed in the city’s dog pound for their pet must be responsible pet owners.
City Veterinarian Dr. Brigit Piok disclosed their office had been receiving numerous complaints of dogs adopted from the city’s dog pound by neighbours being unruly and causing them disturbance, especially during the late hours of the night and wee hours of the morning.
She explained it is for the reason that the city government no longer allows shotgun adoption of unclaimed dogs from the city pound to prevent the repeat of the said complaints as prospective adopters have to pass through certain procedures and submit pertinent documents to show that they are capable adopters and responsible pet owners.
The city veterinarian advised interested adopters of dogs from the city’s dog pound to first visit their office to familiarize themselves with the dogs they intend to adopt and mingle with their prospective pets to ascertain they are compatible and for the dogs to be able to adjust to their new masters, among other aspects of the adoption process.
She claimed the CVAO decided to require from interested adopters a certification from the barangay stating, among others, that the adopters are qualified to adopt pets and that the premises of their residences are conducive for hosting the prospective pets.
According to her, the residences of the interested adopters will be inspected by CVAO personnel before appropriate actions will be done to ensure they are really responsible pet owners and to make sure their neighbors favour the presence of the adopted dogs in the neighborhood.
Piok stated interested adopters should not solely rely on the social media in choosing the dogs they intend to adopt as this could result to more problems for the adopters and their neighborhood if they are not able to familiarize themselves with the dogs that they intend to adopt.
Further, she suggested it is best for adopters to familiarize themselves with their prospective adoptee dog so as not to cause peace and order issues in their neighborhood that may unwarranted conflicts between neighbors.
The CVAO is allowing interested adopters to adopt unclaimed dogs in the city’s dog pound after complying with the prescribed requirements for adoption by the office and the payment of the necessary regulatory fees that include the payment of the daily subsistence of the dogs that had been cared in the dog pound.
Dogs caught by the personnel of the dog pound are brought to the said facility and are allowed to stay in the dog pound for a period of 7 days before being allowed for possible adoption by the qualified adopters.
By Dexter A. See
