Everyone has a right to pet.
A Marikina resident is challenging before a court a series of local ordinances that bans pets in resettlement areas.
On Friday, Alma Manzano, a resident of Barangay Fortune, asked a local court to strike down six sections of four ordinances passed between 1997 and 2008, provisions which effectively bans residents of resettlement areas from owning pets, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In her court filing which was put together by the UP Legal Aid office, Manzano argued that no national law prohibits pet ownership, and local governments may only regulate its ownership, and not enforcing bans.
According to the ordinances, the measures were put in place, particularly at resettlement areas, to prevent the spread of diseases such as rabies and other animal-borne illnesses.
The report says Manzano was once fined and threatened with a lawsuit when authorities discovered she was keeping a dog at her unit in the resettlement area. She had to give up her canine companion in exchange for the local government to drop the suit.
Photo: Marikina’s Christmas tree.
