Askals and Pusakals: Beauty Beyond Breed
by Abby Generalia
June 2008

Jackie, a one-year old playful puppy, was ruthlessly left at a parking lot in Paranaque. Phoebe, a very friendly and sweet dog, was abandoned by her former owner because he had no place for her anymore. Nala and Mufasa, two of the cutest kittens in the shelter, were rudely thrown over the walls of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society Rehabilitation Center. All of them were left unwanted.

Askals… how do we imagine them? Do we think of them as the delicious Caldereta, Adobo, Lechon or Azucena served at the streets of Baguio City? Are they the dirty four-legged creatures we threw stones at when they asked for a bite of what we were eating? Do we view them merely as ugly and dumb mutts inferior to Chow-chows, Pit bulls, Chihuahuas and other pedigreed sets? How about the pusakals? Do we think of them as the thieves that steal fried fish from our kitchen? Are they the ones we always yell at whenever they turn our trash cans upside down in search of our left-overs? In the Philippines, it is a depressing reality that only a few homes are open to the likes of Bantay and Muning. Most families would prefer offering their love and care to domesticated animals of imported breeds.

And where do our native dogs and cats end up? We often see them around… roaming by the streets, abused by people, floating on the river and worst, served as “pulutan.”

It is in this light that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a non-government organization promoting the humane treatment towards animals, launched its latest campaign, “See Beauty Beyond Breed (SBBB)”. This aims to encourage Filipinos to appreciate the features of our own  dogs and cats, thus making adoption from the animal shelters their option of obtaining a pet.

All native dogs and cats, as well as their human rescuers, are the inspirations of this program. For PAWS, the rescuers are people who have already rescued animals at the streets at some point in their lives, those who have adopted any shelter animal, and those who have supported PAWS and other local animal welfare groups in any way possible, in their fight against animal cruelty.

This campaign also aims to replace the terms “askal” (asong-kalye) and “pusakal” (pusang kalye) with “aspins” (asong Pinoy) and “puspins” (pusang Pinoy) to refer to native dogs and cats. Our own domesticated animals do not deserve to be called merely street dogs and cats.

Help find warm homes for Jackie, Phoebe, Nala, Mufasa and thousands of native dogs and cats in Philippine animal shelters waiting for human love. Let’s promote “aspin” and “puspin” adoption.

       Photos courtesy of Philippine Animal Welfare Society