The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) says Marikina City officials continue to deny their request for a public hearing in order to amend an ordinance that bans low-income families and informal settlers from keeping pets.
PAWS Executive Director Anna Cabrera said they have sent a letter of request to the office of the Vice Mayor as well as the Mayor’s office but has yet to receive a reply until now.
Animal welfare activists like PAWS have branded Marikina City Ordinance 13 Series of 1997 as “discriminatory against” the poor.
Local government officials, however, maintain that it has helped save hundreds of animals from possible cruelty. They also insist that it has kept residents safe from diseases. Stray dogs are rounded up and kept in the city pound, Inquirer News reported.
