Animals are part of our daily lives here in UP Diliman. They inhabit the campus grounds. They interact with the campus community. But all too often they are taken for granted, misunderstood and abused. We seek your help in standing up for the welfare of these animals.

Friends of Campus Animals (FoCA) is a group of concerned faculty, students, alumni, staff, residents of UP Diliman Campus as well as other concerned citizens urge the UP Diliman administration to enact a proper policy and program for the welfare of animals in the campus.

We thank UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan for not pushing with the plan to round up animals at the UP Diliman campus. Just like Chancellor Tan, we believe that a dialogue is needed and a committee for animal welfare in the campus should be constituted or strengthened if there is such a committee already. Indeed, much has to be done.

We believe in a campus that is compassionate to animals. We hope you will consider the following in order to build an animal-friendly campus befitting a state university.

1. Create an Animal Welfare Committee composed of animal-loving faculty, students, staff, alumni and residents of the campus who are also aware of the elements of animal welfare. The Committee can draft guidelines and animal welfare policies for the campus.

2. Conduct a population count of the campus animals. This will give us an idea of the different species of companion and domesticated animals and their numbers in the campus. It will also allow us to map out the locations of the cats and dogs.

3. Conduct an animal welfare awareness survey at UP Diliman, to aid authority in coming up programs and policies on animal welfare.

4. Have feeding stations where the cat colonies are located.  Ideally the feeding stations should be in a covered area or shed in case it rains. Canteens can provide leftover food for the campus and college animals. Janitors, guards, canteen personnel as well as volunteer students, staff and faculty can help with the feeding.

5. Regular neutering for the campus animals. The veterinarians at the UP Veterinary and Teaching Hospital can do the surgeries for free. Animal welfare groups such as the Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) and the Philippine Animal Welfare Society can also be tapped for assistance on neutering.

In fact since 2012, CARA has expressed willingness to help UP Diliman implement the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy.

6. Have an active adoption program. Many of the animals have bonded with people so they can adjust to homes. Some shelters abroad have had a huge success in adopting out all their animals. A careful study of their techniques could help us in this endeavor.

At the UP College of Mass Communication, some cats have been adopted and brought home by students, staff and the security guards. A stray dog that was about to be taken by the barangay was adopted by a UP alumna.

7. Have an active dissemination of information on animal welfare and pertinent laws. Through this, perhaps animal abuse in the campus will stop once the community becomes aware and people become open into changing their attitude towards animals.

FoCA can help in fund-raising activities to help implement a campus animal welfare program too. It would be best to hold such an activity in October 2015 since World Animal Day is on Oct. 4. Our volunteer group can either take the lead here or help with this. The initial proceeds will be used to set up income-generating projects to sustain the feeding and medical needs of the campus animals.

As the nation’s premier university, UP must instill a strong sense of compassion and respect among its students, faculty and staff toward the voiceless sectors of society, including animals.

Businessmen in Asia, Europe and the United States have realized that employee productivity soars with the presence of animals in their offices. About 40% of schools in the United States have even opened their dormitories to the animal companions of their student residents.

Everywhere, people are recognizing the relaxing and healing effects of animals on individuals working and living in stressful environments. In the different colleges and units in UP Diliman, students can be seen stroking cats while conducting study groups in the corridors or college grounds.  They swear that the cats help them cope with the daily stresses of academic life.

Yet in this same campus, these cats are still routinely rounded up and brought to Payatas to be mercilessly killed.

We can study the experience of our neighbor Ateneo De Manila University. They have already put in place an animal welfare program that involves the participation of the administration, staff and the students. With help from the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), they round up the stray animals in the campus, neuter them, then return them back to where they were picked up. This Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy controls stray animal population in a humane manner.

With this policy, there is no need to kill innocent animals that protect the campus from giant rodents that inhabit many college buildings and grounds.

We believe that rounding up these dogs and cats and getting rid of them is not the answer. The void created when these animals are rounded up only serve as an invitation to new batches of animals that will then invade the vacated territory. 

For the love of the animals, it is high time to have an animal welfare committee, programs, and policy in UP Diliman.