(H)alaga is a SocSci 6 project that aims to promote the QC-ACAC shelter's principles and ideals of animal welfare, responsible pet ownership, and aspin adoption to the student body of PSHS–MC through the medium of a required seminar to be held on the week of YMSAT.
In collaboration with Quezon City Animal Care and Adoption Center, Cats of Pisay, and Animal Kingdom Foundation, we envision a future of responsible and happy pet owners to curb the ever-growing pound of stray dogs. To make both pet owners and dogs happy is our mission for the future.
In 2021, the preexisting Quezon City animal pound was transformed into the adoption center that is known today. This was done in accordance with the city's Animal Welfare and Rehabilitation Program where impounded animals are rehabilitated and trained to be put up for adoption instead of being euthanized. According to Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City, "The city believes that every animal deserves a loving and caring family, since dogs and cats are known to be good companion animals."
Dogs are populous in the Philippines, with 67% of Filipino households claiming to have dogs. Recent statistics state that there are 12 million dog owners in the country owning a total of 11 million dogs altogether. These numbers prove to be significant and show that dogs clearly dominate when it comes to pet choice. However, every pet dog isn't treated the same, and there are those unfortunate ones that have been or are still being treated so poorly. Reasons as to why animals are treated differently may vary across different people, but it is certain that lack of proper education on animal care is one of the reasons.
To help promote the shelter's principles and ideals of animal welfare, responsible pet ownership, and aspin adoption to PSHS-MC students
to educate the student body of PSHS–MC on responsible pet ownership, proper animal caretaking and animal welfare
to help achieve QCACAC's goal of conducting more seminars in different schools in the NCR region.
to promote the adoption of stray pets and aspins instead of buying them in stores.
and Twixie
and a Boys Dorm Cat
and Burrito
and Garf
and Remie
and Cat
After thorough research, our prospective communities were the Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) and the Quezon City Animal Care and Adoption Center. With careful consideration, our group decided to choose QCACAC over AKF mainly because AKF’s main shelter is located in Tarlac, which was inconvenient for the team’s transportation. We chose QCACAC then as our final community due to . It was also chosen due to our objectives matching with the community’s needs.
Interview. An interview with Dr. Rex Villanueva, head vet in the QCACAC, was conducted to identify what kind of project we would implement that could satisfy our objectives. Based on the discussions, QCACAC plans to implement seminars that teaches students and pet owners how to care for their pets properly. The shelter also wanted to put up an adoption drive for the stray rescue dogs that are ready for adoption. In the end, we had agreed to conduct the seminar along with the adoption drive in PSHS-MC.
Collaboration. In one of the meetings with Dr. Rex, he mentioned that one of PSHS-MC’s student organization, Cats of Pisay, contacted them in order to have the campus cats get vaccinated and neutered, however was only able to accomplish those to only a few of them, and Dr. Rex suggested that perhaps our group could collaborate with Cats of Pisay in one of our activities, the vaccination drive. Since one of our group members, Zachary Pialago, is closely acquainted with one of the point persons within Cats, we were able to discuss the collaboration, and has planned out that the more cats will be vaccinated and neutered on the seminar day as well, March 2, 2023, but at a different venue, at the Science and Humanities Building (SHB) Front Lobby.
Visiting the Venue. A few weeks before YMSAT, the QCACAC staff visited the venue area which was the 4th floor auditorium to check the space, and the point person confirmed that the area is big enough for the dogs. They have also confirmed with their MoA that AKF confirmed to speak during the seminar and mentioned that they will be sending their slides 2 days before the event. As for the vaccination drive, it was confirmed to be held in the ASTB with tables and chairs set up.
Seminar
Vaccination Drive
Day of the Seminar. Our group arrived early at the venue of our program, around 30 minutes before it starts in order to set up the equipment, such as the projectors for the slide presentations and the mics for the speakers, while our speakers from Animal Kingdom Foundation, Charmaine Parreno, Melissa Rapanut, and Don Castillo, are getting picked up at the waiting area. The seminar spanned beyond the allotted time, as the program consisted of animal welfare not just on cats and dogs, but also in fishes and chickens, as well as a rundown on rabies with various topics on it.
Most of the audience, consisting of the whole 8th Grade Batch in PSHS-MC, was engaged to the seminar due to the minigames that AKF included in their presentation, and due to the live demonstration from the audience that QCACAC did.
At the end of the seminar, the speakers, the head of the demonstration, and the head of the QC Vet Dept. were awarded certificates for their recognition in their involvement with the seminar and vaccination drive held on campus. Soon later, AKF and QCACAC were given their complimentary meals to end their visit in Pisay, and to celebrate a successful day for all of us.
Vaccination Drive. Three cats were contained for the neutering to be done by QCAC. The members took shifts in watching these cats in their small cages as they awaited the preparations by the personnel to finish. Once neutering began, the collars of the cats were removed as they were administered anesthetics. The cats soon entered a sleep wherein they'd feel no pain during the operation.
The sleeping cats were then transferred to another table and given a second dose of anesthetics as their testicles were sanitized and shaved to pinpoint the incision area. The genitalia of the cats were then sliced open on this incision line using a scalpel, exposing the insides of the testicles, which were then untangled and pulled out by gloved doctors. The vessels attached to the testicles were then severed using clippers. The right ears of the cats were also clipped to indicate their status as completely neutered, with the former testicle areas being closed, disinfected, and marked. Before placing the cats back into their cages to rest and recover, they were given a third and final round of anesthetics.
Adoption Drive. We posted the adoption drive details including the pictures of the pets, the list of adoption requirements, and the interest check form in Pisay Direct (the main Facebook page of PSHS-MC). We posted them ahead of time
Dr. Rex suggested as well if we can ask the admin if they are interested in hiring a patrol dog, so we went up to the Finance & Administrative Services Division. However, according to them, the admin has no interest in adopting a security dog as there might be problems in regards to taking care of the dog, and it was also mentioned that security has no problems so far so a patrol dog isn't needed.
There was a sudden change in the location where the vaccination drive will occur, changing from its original location, at the Front Lobby of the Science and Humanities Building (SHB Flob or Flob), to the Advanced Science and Technology Building (ASTB) Hall. It was not much of a big deal however, considering the open space available at the ASTB Hall. Another issue arose when the week arrived unfortunately, there was an ArTech Xhibit ongoing, and left us with less than half of the space that the ASTB Hall provides, however it was still workable, and made slight adjustments to the vaccination drive setup to adapt to the space available.
At the seminar, the presentation that QCACAC prepared for their part was submitted late based on our agreed deadline, and was only sent on the day of the seminar. The main issue however is the fact that they do not have their own medium to present their presentation through the projector. AKF had their own laptop, and thus QCACAC sent their presentation through email. However, by the time AKF finished their presentation, there was only roughly 30 minutes left and QCACAC was not able to show their slides. But, they were still able to demonstrate proper pet care in person with rescue dogs they brought to school.
We were told that the YMSAT committee will be providing complementary food to our guests. However, there was a lack of communication on our side because we did not anticipate that there would be more than six guests from QCACAC and the AKF. After contacting the head of the YMSAT Committee, the issue was more or less resolved; the YMSAT head informed us that the payments for all of the guests will be in their care regardless of the expected six guests mentioned before. We apologized for our mishap on not informing our guests parties regarding the complement limits beforehand.
In summary, our project was able to provide the community a larger platform for them to convey their message of responsible pet ownership and animal welfare through the seminar. With the collaboration of AKF, we were able to promote proper animal caretaking to students through mini-games and an onsite demonstration thanks to Chow and Cherry, the rescue dogs. Not only that, even though it wasn’t our main goal, other topics such as hen and fish welfare was also tackled, which is a nice bonus because it widens the students’ view on animal welfare that there are many other animals with environmental issues that need to be addressed. Our seminar has also contributed to promoting animal volunteerism as one of our members shared their experiences with volunteering at the shelter. All in all, the seminar itself is a head-start for possible implementation of other pet seminars in other schools, which is QCACAC’s main objective.
Quezon City Animal Care and Adoption Center (QCACAC) aims to resolve the root problem of the neverending amount of strays appearing on the streets, which is the lack of knowledge of a lot of pet owners on how to properly care for them. In order to do this, QCACAC is attempting a project that would implement seminars to public schools nationwide that would focus on animal welfare, and the proper way of taking care of animals, which requires them to propose this to the Department of Education (DepEd). The seminar, along with the vaccination drive that were successfully held at Philippine Science High School - Main Campus would definitely strengthen the proposal that they would give. If the proposal gets approved, our group would be involved in a sustainable project that would be implemented nationwide.
The immersion project’s most important and salient impact on its conductors is ultimately a lesson on appreciation. Government institutions such as animal centers and animal pounds are often taken for granted and overlooked by the everyday person, and a lot of the effort and history behind such organizations are left obscure and unknown to the larger public. Likewise, the loyalty and lives of animal companions such as dogs and cats are also often taken for granted, which leads to people, pet owners or otherwise, mistreating and/or neglecting the animals around them under the false pretense that their animal instinct ensures their survival and good health.
The immersion project served to enlighten its conductors on the folly the modern world had presented them regarding animal care, and also served to enrich their emotional and social growth in the aspects of Compassion, Awareness, Trust, Dedication, Organization, and Gratitude (or CATDOG for short).
Through compassion in the interviews, surveys, and immersion, the group soon discovered that the community within the said institutions were animal lovers similar to them, and had an advanced if not authoritative knowledge and understanding of proper animal handling and health upkeep. Upon realizing this and being educated on the more systemic issues animal well-being faces, the group readjusted their initial approach to the community as well as their perspective. Compassion, at the end of the day, gave the group a clearer idea of what it is they need to do to help their chosen community, as well as what needs to be done, by individuals, by the government, and by society, to further the campaign for animal well-being.
Their awareness of other issues such as the spread of rabies, the uncooperative nature of citizens, as well as the increasing rate of stray dogs and cats allowed them to further understand and empathize with the plights of their chosen communities. Furthermore, awareness of other avenues regarding animal shelters was also attained, such as the use of rescue dogs as therapy dogs and police dogs. Awareness and clarifications on polarizing and controversial topics was also attained when the group asked about the necessity and frequency of euthanasia. Awareness, and by extension the active choice to pursue it and the willingness to receive it, is key to any individual or group that seek to act on any public issue, as lacking awareness would often lead to misguided attempts at campaigning or pursuing action which at best would lead to the spread of misinformation and at worst can lead to violence.
Throughout this project, the group learned a great deal about trust, in regards both to each other as group members, and towards their chosen communities of the QCAC as well as even the dogs. They encountered many struggles both within their members as well as with their community. Often these struggles would be conflicts in schedules or disagreements in what direction to take the project towards. However, thanks to the openness of the members to trust each other’s word and intentions, no friction was generated within the group or with the community. Potential points for conflict or confusion were solved with inquiry, rescheduling, clarification, consultation, and readjustment. Furthermore, the initial precognition that animal pounds placed the well-being of cities above that of animals was also set aside in favor of trusting their due processes and stated prioritization of animal well-fare whilst maintaining an anthropocentric utilitarian presentation of their operations’ successes.
Of course, since the group had 6 members, all of which had their own ideas and intentions on what topics to pursue and what methodologies to incorporate, a lot of those thoughts and concepts had to be trimmed and cut to make way for the larger group decisions, often helmed by the leader.
The project led the group to learn the value and importance of dedication, especially in circumstances such as these where events do not necessarily play out in the most flattering way to the whims of any individual member. The maintained enthusiasm and unfaltering will and commitment of each member to each other, to the group, and to the greater goals of building community values and skills, and bringing good to the world, ultimately resulted in a compounding dedication that fostered an unyielding cohesion within the group, allowing them to continue moving forward even in drastic direction changes.
Organization was also a key skill and value that the group grew into incorporating as they proceeded with their tasks in order to provide themselves structure and stability in their pursuit of their ends. From delegation of tasks to the assignment of roles and responsibilities in paper writing and interviews, the group ensured to properly allow each member enough time to rest, relax, and express themselves, while maintaining an efficient and timely work output schedule that played on the strengths and compatibilities of each member to their delegated tasks.
Up until the day of implementation did the group see their improvement on organization bear fruit, as the members split into two groups (which occasionally bled into each other or had members swap stations) that manned the seminar and the vaxxdrive respectively. Overall, as the project progressed and the members slowly started to get more comfortable with working with each other, the organization of their methods increased drastically as they learned to maximize each other’s strengths and maximize the time they had with each other and with the parties they required communications with.
Animal companions, as realized by the members, have always been present for people and have always been a strong emotional support system for those in need. In a way, people have started to take their presence for granted and have dwindled in their showings of appreciation and gratitude for the loyalty and companionship of these creatures. Because humans spend so much time in the presence of dogs and cats, they tend to forget that these animals have struggles as well and do not exist slowly for their amusement and pleasure. Hence, this project was ultimately realized to be an act of gratitude for these animals. Likewise, upon hearing the anecdotes and intentions of the animal related government institutions, the group also reflected upon the fact that these people were also in some ways taken for granted. This community was also not shown the appropriate gratitude that they should have been given their service and contribution to the upkeep of modern society and the betterment of animal welfare.
This severe lack of appreciation and gratitude towards animals and those that protect them is ultimately at the heart of this particular issue plaguing society, the group realized. And as such, the culmination of the project, as well as the following work after its completion, can then be seen as a work to show these important facets in our lives the gratitude that they so rightfully deserve.
Special Thanks to:
Chow
Cherry
Jumbo
Hotdog