A closure order has been issued to the Ahjay Paws Aftercare Pet Crematorium after 29 dead animals were reportedly dumped in large sacks at a vacant lot in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.
The atrocity was reported by the animal rescue service Luna and Furry Siblings, with the animals’ identified owners claiming to have sought cremation services from Ahjay Paws Aftercare. Instead of fulfilling their service, the Bacoor-based pet crematorium allegedly pocketed the money and carelessly disposed of the bodies.
The response of public officials
As the NBI continues to investigate, NBI Director Melvin Matibag commiserates with the pet owners affected.
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“As a pet lover, I myself, understand and sympathize with those who have fallen victim to this fraudulent practice,” he said in a press statement. “It is unacceptable that the trust given, including the [hard-earned money of pet owners] was repaid with fraud. Instead of a proper cremation, [their pets were] thrown away like garbage.”
The issue is not only reprehensible because of its fraudulence but also because of the particularly cruel manner with which it was committed. Anyone who has ever loved a pet will attest to the pain of losing them. Many of us wouldn’t think twice about considering them a member of our family. But as this incident reveals, not everyone has the capacity to exercise empathy for non-human life.
The deeper issue
Our culture has created a criteria through which one must qualify for love; one must prove why they deserve care. In a society of increasing individualism and the privatization of the most basic necessities for living, the first ones to suffer are always the most vulnerable—and that includes our beloved animals.
It is not preposterous to believe that such foul treatment toward animals is a byproduct of inhumane public policy and corrupt officials. It is not farfetched to deduce that a rigged system gives rise to a culture of cheats.
Of course, even within a just system, there will always be people capable of senseless cruelty. And it is not always productive to impose logic where there might not be any. But when something like this happens, we find ourselves not only angry at the perpetrators of the crime but also the conditions that enabled it.
Anthropocentric arrogance
This is a tragedy that underscores a blatant disregard for other forms of life. As humans, we have built a world around our own prosperity while ignoring that of other species. This has already brought us to the brink of climate collapse, and yet we continue to demonstrate a shocking display of entitlement.
Human arrogance and selfishness is everywhere we look, and it’s getting harder and harder to turn away from. All the more because the degradation of wild animals’ natural habitats now happens on such a casual level.
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While data centers continue to deplete our natural resources, people are asking ChatGPT to conjure an image of themselves in the ‘80s. Tomorrow, a new trend will dominate our feeds with yet another inane excuse to use generative AI.
Unsurprisingly, public officials have already warned that next year, El Niño will intensify and exacerbate the threat to global biodiversity. It will also put us at further risk of drought and short-term heavy rainfall, primarily affecting our lowest income communities.
If there is anything to take away from this issue, it’s that all of the world’s problems are interconnected. Animal abuse does not happen in a vacuum, and we should not let our anger dissipate from here.
A message to animal lovers
Matibag empathizes with pet owners by foregrounding his experience as a pet lover himself. And while I don’t believe one has to be a pet lover to bear witness to the barbarity of this crime, I too, want to emphasize the transcendence of loving an animal.
To willingly assume the care of a creature that could not survive without you is to know what it is to love unconditionally. In a world characterized by walls and refusal, pet lovers understand that life is richer when you let others in.
The ability to undertake not just the responsibility but also the emotional burden of loving a pet is always something to commend. And while loss is embedded in life, no one deserves to experience their pet’s death in so cruel a manner.
