ANGELES CITY — A total of 1,096 cats and dogs here have benefited from the free spaying and neutering program of the city government in 2023.
Mayor Carmelo ‘Pogi’ Lazatin Jr. said this is a positive development, receiving full support from the community in putting premium to the welfare of animals.
The project is being supervised by Lazatin’s Chief Adviser IC Calaguas and Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel, both champions in animal advocacy, with the City Veterinary Office led by Dr. Christian Arcilla.
According to Dr. Arcilla, included in the number are those who visited the City Veterinary Office, those who had a scheduled operation in the office, those who participated during the scheduled visit in barangays, and those who were rescued in Trap-Neuter-Release program at public schools, hospitals, churches, and markets.
“We started this in 2020 in the city’s own animal pound, only spaying and neutering rescued animals housed there,” Calaguas said.
Calaguas shared that from then on, they saw this as an effective and humane way to control an unwanted animal population.
According to Dr. Arcilla, since the launch of the project in 2020 up to date, a total of 3,845 animals have already been spayed and neutered.
Meanwhile, Manuel is encouraging her kababayans to adopt and not to shop for pets since rescued animals in the pound are up for adoption.
“After being assessed and given the necessary needs of the rescued pets, they will be up for adoption,” Manuel shared.
Dr. Arcilla further said that queries for adoption and animal welfare programs will be entertained via walk-in or schedule or through their official Facebook page, Angeles City Veterinary Office.
Dr. Arcilla also thanked the administration of Mayor Lazatin for putting animal welfare on top of his priority projects.
