Man faces charges for beating dog to death ‘for online views’

A man is facing charges related to animal cruelty for a video that showed him beating a dog to death in Mandaon, Masbate allegedly to gain views online.

In Oscar Oida’s Thursday report in “24 Oras,” a video posted on a forum of animal lovers showed a dog that was tied up and a man repeatedly hitting it in the head until it died.

The Animal Welfare Investigation Project was alarmed by what happened to the dog in the video, which they provided to GMA Integrated News.

“I think it was more for content, and they were trying to mislead kasi yung mga nakapanood dahil yung nag post ng video, yung address niya kunyari is from Tagum, Davao del Norte,” said Greg Quimpo, regional director of Animal Welfare Investigation Project.

(I think it was more for content, and they were trying to mislead the viewers because the uploader indicated that it happened in Tagum, Davao del Norte.)

The animal welfare advocacy group eventually found the real location of the incident and coordinated with personnel of Barangay Kabitan, who identified the suspect.

The suspect, known as alias “Tantan,” spoke with GMA Integrated News but had difficulty communicating in Tagalog, so the barangay personnel helped him.

“Kasi sir, yung aso raw nangangagat [nanghahabol] ng mga taong dumaraan, kaya nagawa niya ‘yon… noong nakarang taon pa yan. Nagsisisi nga siya sa ginawa niya. Kasi di naman ito sir nakapag-aral ng ano kaya di niya naiintindihan yung batas sa hayop. Kaya sabi niya sir, himingi raw siya ng patawad at hindi na raw niya uulitin,” Barangay Captain Junil Azucena said.

(He said the dog has been chasing people who were passing by, so he killed it. This happened last year. He regrets his actions. He was unable to receive an education so he did not know the law on animal cruelty. He is asking for forgiveness and said he will not repeat his actions.)

Tantan also denied allegations that he hit the dog to gain views online since he did not know someone was recording him.

The Animal Welfare Investigation Project doubted Tantan’s claim, whom they also talked to.

“He was denying at first na hindi niya alam na bine-video-han siya pero sabi ko nagsisinungaling ka kasi nung pangalawang hataw mo ng aso, tumingin ka dun sa nagbi-video. Parang  sinasabi mo na ‘okay na ba?’ parang ganun ang sabi mo sa kanya. So, you know, hindi ka makaka-escape kasi kitang kita yung mukha niya doon,” Quimpo said.

(At first, he was denying that he knew someone was videoing him. But I told him he was lying because on the second time he hit the dog, he looked at the one taking the video and you seemed to be asking, ‘it that okay?’. So, you know, you cannot escape since his face is exposed on the video.)

Tantan is facing charges for violating the Animal Welfare Act, which is equivalent to six months to two years of imprisonment and a fine of at least P100,000.

Meanwhile, authorities are searching for the person who recorded the incident and uploaded the video. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/BAP, GMA Integrated News