Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 8485)
The primary purpose of the Act is to protect and promote the welfare of all animals in the Philippines by supervising and regulating the establishment and operations of facilities involved in breeding, maintaining, keeping, treating, or training animals either as objects of trade or as household pets, including birds.
Any person, association, partnership, corporation, cooperative, or government agency that intends to establish, maintain, and operate pet shops, kennels, veterinary clinics or hospitals, stockyards, corrals, stud farms, stock farms, or zoos for the breeding, treatment, sale, trading, or training of animals must secure a certificate of registration from the BAI.
The certificate shall only be issued upon proof that the facilities are adequate, clean, and sanitary, and that the animals will not be subjected to pain and/or suffering in such establishments.
Violators face imprisonment from six (6) months to two (2) years, a fine of One Thousand to Five Thousand pesos, or both at the discretion of the Court. If the violator is a juridical person, the responsible officer serves the imprisonment. Aliens are subject to immediate deportation after serving their sentence.
Cruelty includes overcrowding, placing animals in trunks or under hood trunks of vehicles, cruel confinement or restraint, and any other form of cruelty even if a transportation permit has been secured from the BAI.
They must provide adequate, clean, and sanitary facilities for safe conveyance and delivery, sufficient food and water for animals if in transit over twelve (12) hours or as necessary, and ensure no cruel confinement or restraint is inflicted on the animals.
Exceptions include killings as part of religious rituals, when an animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease, to end animal misery as certified by a veterinarian, to prevent imminent danger to humans, for animal population control, after authorized research, or other veterinarian-approved grounds, all done by humane procedures.
The Committee is attached to the Department of Agriculture and composed of representatives from various government departments and private organizations involved in animal welfare. It issues rules and regulations for the Act's implementation, sets safety and sanitary standards, reviews guidelines every three years, and may approve humane procedures for animal treatment and killing.
The destruction of natural wildlife habitat is deemed a form of cruelty, and protecting such habitat is considered a duty to protect the animals.