BACOLOD CITY – The city government opened its first-ever pet festival on Saturday, March 29, to raise awareness about rabies, promote animal welfare, and encourage responsible pet ownership.
THE first-ever pet festival in Bacolod City kicked off with a pet walk on Saturday, March 29, at the Panaad Park and Stadium. (Photo via Falcor Marketing Corp.)
Dr. John Michael Cabugwason, assistant city veterinarian, said the city allocated P150,000 for the festival with the theme “Building a Safe and Rabies-free Community is our Shared Responsibility.”
A pet walk kicked off the event at the Panaad Park and Stadium.
Cabugwason said that they aim to vaccinate more cats and dogs to reach their 80,000-animal vaccination target in the pet festival.
He said that the city allocated P4 million for the vaccination campaign.
Six-thousand to 8,000 dogs in Barangay Mansilingan have been vaccinated since January.
Cabugwason said while there were delays in procuring vaccines, the budget has been secured, and they plan to cover the vaccination of pets in Barangays 1 to 7 from March 29 to April 3 as part of the festival.
As of last year, the city has successfully vaccinated 65,156 animals or 82 percent of the total dog and cat population of 79,061.
The pet festival will also offer free spaying and neutering services for at least 20 cats at Ayala Malls Capitol Central.
Onsite pet registration will be launched to allow the city to track pets here with a QR code system. The one-time registration fee is P50.
On March 30, a dog show at Robinson’s Place Bacolod will be held. The event will culminate in a pet expo at Ayala Malls Capitol Central from April 4 to 6.