A dog in a cage

We have been plagued with barking dogs since we arrived at our house in Dipolog City nearly six weeks ago.
The dog next door particularly annoyed us. It was usually ok during daylight. But when darkness came at 6pm, it would start barking. This was not just the odd burst but barking that went on and on and on. It would usually cease when the owners returned.
Sometimes the dog would whimper for long periods, too. Then we noticed that it was tied up, and on a very short leash. It was often tied up on the side of the house nearest us. The leash was so short that if the dog lay down, the leash was taut. There was very little room for movement.
Eventually we decided to speak to the tenants. It was our first conversation with them as they had not been here when we were last in Dipolog in 2005. We spoke to the woman, her husband saying nothing, and explained that the incessant barking could be heard even over the sound of music or tv. It was actually giving us a headache. She said she could not control her dog, which made me irritated, and I said it was up to her to do so. I also explained that I felt that the fact the dog was tied up all the time they were away made it unhappy. She said she had to tie it up because otherwise it would chew things in their yard, even clothes. However, she said she would stop tying it up on the side of the house nearest us.
Then the dog across the road from us became a problem. We first became aware of this when the owners started having some building work done. Their builders took over a piece of common land and turned it into a building site which annoyed me. But at the same time the dog was moved from the side of their house to the front.
The dog became even more of a nuisance than the other one, barking throughout the day, often for long periods of time. This is a huge dog with a huge bark. It looks like the hound of the Baskervilles ! And they have it imprisoned in a tiny cage. It is occasionally taken out for walks by the owners’ maids.(Nearly all middle-class Filipinos have live-in maids, usually two, who are paid a small amount of money in addition to having food and accommodation provided.)
Anyway, unlike the other dog, this one barks during daylight hours and is usually quiet after dark। We have remonstrated with the maids on two or three occasions - to no effect. They seem oblivious to its barking, and yesterday while the dog was barking away furiously, one maid was fifty yards up the road talking to someone on her mobile phone. I suggested that if she spoke to the dog, it might calm down a bit. Her English is not great, but Helen reinforced this in Visayan.
Anyway, about half an hour later, Helen told me that the owner had returned, and suggested that we should speak to him. We immediately went over. I explained the situation, and said it seemed that his dog was unhappy, and that his barking was causing us a problem. He looked at me, incredulously. I added that I thought the dog was unhappy because he was in such a small cage, adding that I too would be unhappy if locked up in such a small space. At this point, he said that perhaps I should be locked up in the cage with the dog ! I don’t think he meant it as a serious threat. It was more a case of plain rudeness, his way of telling me to F off .

Until that comment, I had been calm and restrained. But his rudeness provoked me into being more confrontational. I said that I thought he was being cruel to his dog, and that its resultant unhappiness and barking was disturbing all the neighbours. He retorted that I was the only one troubled, the only one who complained. (This is probably true. Filipinos don’t complain.) He went on to say I’d complained about the other dog, too – so he’d obviously been exchanging notes with our next-door neighbour about the ‘complaining foreigner’. And he also said there were other barking dogs. This is also true though I’m not sure whether the fact they haven’t bothered us so much is down to their being further away from us or barking less incessantly.

Anyway, it became clear I was getting nowhere so I walked off before the situation got worse. I was fuming, and went round to the house of Jan and Fatima, who are the people we know best in the sub-division. But they were not there. Then, having chatted to Helen, we decided to go round to the big house built since we were last here. The owners are a pastor and a doctor, and I knew he had been elected President of the homeowners association. Anyway, he wasn’t in, but we had a long chat with his wife which started on the subject of the dogs and then developed into general chat about Dipolog, houses, her job, etc. She ended up by showing us round her house.

As we had approached the house, a dog at a nearby house had started barking ! However, it stopped when it saw that we were being accepted by the houseowner. She commented on this, and made the point that if a dog is barking for prolonged periods, it is clearly unhappy and there is a problem whereas a dog which barks at strangers but then stops when it is clear they are not up to any harm is a useful guard dog. Anyway, she said the couple with the huge dog were friends of hers .(Apparently the wife of the man I had had the confrontation with is also a doctor.) But she said she would discuss it with her husband, and they would see what they could do. It had been a very friendly conversation but whether it will lead to any action remains to be seen.
There is no equivalent of the RSPCA in the Philippines, and there is a different attitude to domestic animals than is found in the west. This is a big cultural difference. It is a rare for dogs to live as part of the family. They are often bought solely as guard dogs, and their owners seem to bestow little or no affection on them. As Helen puts it, they are often treated just like pigs.
Filipinos love children, and if anything over-indulge them. This is the only Christian country in Asia with more than 70% of the population Catholic. Unlike Catholics in the west who during recent decades have largely ignored the Vatican’s opposition to birth control, most Catholics in the Philippines do not practise birth control, and large families are very common. I sense this is changing particularly among richer Filipinos. Anyway, my point is Filipinos love children, but animal welfare seems to be a low priority. To take one example. Cock-fighting (which was banned in England in the 1600s) is a very popular sport in the Philippines and enjoys extensive television coverage.)
I would not describe myself as a great animal lover. I have no domestic pets (apart from our temporary kitten !) and would certainly never have a dog. I regard humans as more important than animals. But I hate cruelty, was a vegetarian for a couple of years (and only gave it up because I missed meat and fish too much !), and am opposed to blood sports.
When people go on the average holiday, they spend a couple of weeks in the country and often find out very little about it. Indeed, all-in holidays mean that some holiday-makers never even leave the hotel. So they usually come away with a good impression of the country based on the hotel, the friendly waiters, the sun, etc, etc. But in most cases they learn very little about the country. You could have a perfectly good holiday in China, for example, without any awareness of the regular abuse of human rights we take for granted.

But living in a country is a different matter. When we bought our Philippines house in 2004, we thought we would be coming here every year. It hasn’t worked out that way, and this is only our second spell living in this house for a prolonged spell. But rubbing along with the neighbours certainly gives you an insight into their way of life. I hope my comments are not seen as indicating disapproval of the Philippines. There is much to admire in this country. Most people are very friendly with a laid-back approach which in many ways is admirable. They are very family-orientated, and there is a complex system of family support which died out in most western countries in the early decades of the twentieth century. Filipinos working abroad are an important part of the domestic economy as they send billions of dollars every year to their families in the Philippines.
I find myself in a difficult situation as I have no wish to be the arrogant foreigner telling Filipinos how to live their lives. I would be interested in hearing any advice you have to offer.