Dogfight Update: Dan Tan Arraigned

*whats up paws

naalala ko tuloy nung bata pa ako,may docu yung brigada siete about dogfight

naawa ako sa mga aso. In the first place,hindi sila ginawa ng Dyos para

mag-away,kawawa talaga,meron pa atang asong namamatay

dahil sa ganon. Hinahayaan lang ng mga kinauukulan,minsan pa

kasama sila sa pumupusta.

Dan Tan - arrested last March 31, 2007 for charges of participating in and for being the proponent of dog fights in Antipolo City - was finally arraigned last June 5, 2008.

Months of delaying tactics had stretched into a full year and finally, for the accused, there were no more medical certificates on "illness" to present as excuse for non-appearance in court and the 60-day waiting period for their pending Motion for Reconsideration at the Department of Justice had lapsed.

Tan pleaded "NOT GUILTY" to the charge of violation of Republic Act 8485 which prohibits dogfights.

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Tan is shown in the video-grabbed photo above participating in the said illegal act. The video clips and photos are only some of the evidence which will be presented by PAWS.

Eyewitness accounts of arresting police officers, accounts of PAWS volunteers who were on the scene at the time of the raid, veterinarian's certificates and the confiscated pitbulls themselves are hoped to seal the country's first dogfight conviction.

Marking of evidence is set on July 7 while the pre-trial is slated on August 28 at the Antipolo Hall of Justice.

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Meantime, the Court has directed that representations be made with the Thailand Embassy to try to locate - Phanuwat Nunthawat, Kittiya Boonyang and Timothy Dharmajiva -Thai citizens who were arrested in the raid (who skipped the country on Holy Thursday 2007.)

Please forward their photos to your friends in Thailand as these are people who are currently "at large". We need help in locating them and bringing them back to face charges in Philippine Court.

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Dogfight is illegal and cruel. Here are some file photos of the victims from last year:

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Photo 1: "Midnight", renamed Black-Black by his current foster parent, when he was rescued last March 31, 2007. His left paw was almost severed and he was on the verge of getting killed when the raid was announced.

Photo 2: Black-Black in September 2007. Just a few months after the raid, his paw is healed and he has put on some weight. Now, Black-Black is a beloved pet - happy and a bit, er, chubby.

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Photo 3: The other dog rescued from the raid, "Buddy" - was a "leg dog". He was trained to attack the legs of his dog opponents in the ring - the reason why Black-Black's leg bore the most damage. From our video file evidence, it appears that Buddy was Tim Dharmajiva's dog - flown in from Thailand to participate in the international dogfight rudely interrupted by the CIDG-PAWS raid last March 2007.

The "AFTER" photo was taken in September 2007. Buddy is much fatter now and the wounds are hardly visible on his face.

Help save dogs like Buddy and Black-Black.

Let's put a stop to dogfights.

Report dogfighting in your area to the police by calling 117. For assistance, email philpaws@....

-The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)