Heart Evangelista-Escudero: Promoting animal rights, welfare

April 9, 2022 by No Comments

ASIDE from being an actress, artist, and an international fashion icon, Heart Evangelista–Escudero is also the spokesperson of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (Paws).As a volunteer of Community Animal Rescue Efforts (Care), myself, I was able to interview her with regards to her views on animal welfare when she visited Bacolod City on Monday, April 4.It is public knowledge that Evangelista-Escudero and her husband Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero are “fur parents.”They are in fact, happy owners of several “aspins” (asong Pinoy) and “puspins” (pusang Pinoy).One of their “fur children” is Maria Panda Ongpauco Escudero or they call “Panda”, who travels with the actress whenever she is on taping.Unfortunately, she said, there are groups capturing and killing stray animals, especially cats, instead of handling their overpopulation through the Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) method.Under TNR, feral cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, and then released into the environment.Campaigns calling on local government units to provide free spays and neuter campaigns as the overpopulation of strays is becoming erratic and becoming an uprising problem.“It is possible they have done studies and there are a group of veterinarians that are willing to do a mass spay and neuter campaign, to spay and neuter as man dogs and cats, but because of the budget that has been allocated to other important projects,” Evangelista-Escudero said.She added that spay and neuter campaigns are still not considered a top priority.Currently, we are banned from bringing dogs especially in some public places due to the increase of rabies cases in the country, she noted, adding that those who want to pet dogs and cats should “see the beauty beyond the breed.”Showing that he is indeed a pro-animal advocate, Evangelista-Escudero’s husband put up a Provincial Veterinary Office, Animal Shelter Building, and Animal Diagnostics Laboratory are housed in one compound and offer the services such as medical tests, pharmacy, laboratory test, surgery, animal shelter, isolation, and consultation, and a shelter which they can rehabilitate the rescues.He was also among the authors of the revised Animal Rights Bill when he was still a senator.