Gavin Gamby-Boulger (Director) from the Wetnose Animal Aid will paid a visit to the Animal Kingdom Foundation (which is part of the) International Wildlife Coalition Trust based in Kent., and met with Charles Wartenberg who has a dog rescue centre in the Philippines.
Charles and the local authorities have now got the backing of the (National Meat Inspection Board) to issue an official statement on the dangers of eating dog meat. This is a very big step forward to banning the use of dog meat completely. If the central government refuses to take notice of their own agency they will surely be under a mass of criticism. Gavin and Brian a vet from London are visiting in March to offer their services free to help out in the AKF centre.
Food poisoning: This new document states that dog meat can give food poisoning producing such unpleasant effects as vomiting and diarrhoea, and in more severe cases the toxins produced by bacteria have secondary effects on other organs such as the kidneys and liver. Eating dog meat is hazardous to the locals with strains of E Coli and other dangerous toxins ever present.
Rabies : Rabies is endemic in Asia and causes many deaths in humans and dogs. The usual cause is by biting and is invariably fatal.
A report was written by Alan Whittaker from the AKF Trustee:
"It's a stench you do not forget. Fear stinks. The dogs, nine of them, had been rescued by the Animal Kingdom Foundation. They were in the back of the truck which was parked in the shade of a police station – the dogs were evidence – and they were being f ed and watered . They were free from the threat of slaughter, but they were a piteous sight. All were salivating in streams. They could not eat, most had their heads were hanging out of the door, and others just lay on the floor, shocked .
They were all in their own individual world of horror at what they had seen. A little fawn and white bitch was making herself as small as possible shaking with fear. She was very traumatized. Many locals eat dog meat but do not realize how it's killed . We do we have seen it many times. Some are hanging on a hook from the ceiling and then burnt with a blow torch."
