By Ding Cervantes
Saturday, November 1, 2008 [ philstar.com ]
CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – No one has ever lit a candle or kept vigil on All Saints’ Day here, but the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) says this cemetery has the potential to draw crowds, including tourists.
The K-9 cemetery for dogs, established by the Americans before they left this former US Air Force base, is being eyed as a full-fledged cemetery for pet dogs.
“We intend to preserve it as something that could add to the items to attract tourists at Clark,” said CDC president and chief executive officer Benigno Ricafort.
For Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Rey Catacutan, the K-9 cemetery may provide an answer to many a dog owner’s problem.
“The dog cemetery here makes me think about the millions of dogs all over the country. I don’t think the government has any policy on burying dead dogs and that can be bad for the health of the living, both human and canine,” Catacutan told The STAR.
There are about seven million dogs in the country.
Catacutan said rural areas don’t have much problem with disposing of dead dogs, unlike in urban areas where spaces are limited. “The problem is in urban areas where people live in apartments and homes without space for burying,” he said.
“Apart from protecting the health of people, providing proper burial places for dogs could also augment the income of the local government, which could charge minimal fees for the use of burial grounds,” he said.
Catacutan said that if he is elected congressman in 2010, he will introduce legislation requiring the setting up of dog cemeteries in all municipalities and cities nationwide.
Dr. Romeo Manalili, veterinarian of the Department of Agriculture in Central Luzon, said he is not aware of any law that regulates the burial of pets, particularly dogs.
He said the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 prescribes only measures against cruelty to animals.
There is a dearth of historical records on the K-9 cemetery here, but CDC public relations department manager Sonny Lopez said the cemetery may have been intended for the K-9 dogs of the US military in the Philippines.
The cemetery is located near the Expo Pilipino theme park. On a concrete box-like structure at the cemetery entrance is what could have been a historical marker.
The uniform, narrow tombstones indicate the names of the buried canines. Below the names are combinations of numbers and letters, apparently codes.
One tombstone is marked with the word “pig.” Written on other tombstones are names identified with dogs. The names of theirs owners are not indicated.
Marc Nepomuceno, president of the Angeles City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Camp John Hay – also a former US military facility – also has a dog cemetery where tombstones even have epitaphs.
At Loyola Heights in Quezon City, a 5,000-square meter lot was converted into a pet memorial by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society. It was initially intended for pets of nearby condominium and apartment owners but later opened up to others wanting proper burial for their beloved animal
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