A disturbing finding has surfaced following Typhoon Gaemi, which was one of the most destructive storms to hit Southeast Asia in recent times. The Philippines was devastated by the strong typhoon that struck in July, leaving behind extensive damage. The storm’s rage left a path of destruction, with tens of thousands being evacuated and many dozen reported dead.

According to The Metro, in the middle of the mayhem, Ashley Fruono, PETA Asia’s director of animal assistance programs, discovered a terrible scene: dogs who had been abandoned and were either held in cages or fastened to lampposts outside the wrecked homes of their owners. These creatures were abandoned and allowed to weather the storm on their own, even in spite of the dire circumstances and the pressing necessity for evacuation.

“I’ll never forget seeing the decomposing bodies of dogs in cages or attached to their chains with a look of horror on their faces. They were subjected to an almost unimaginably horrific death-that was completely preventable,” Ashley told The Metro.

The news portal further reported, citing a report from the worldwide kennel club registry, the Federation Cynologique Internationale, that animal abuse has long been a major concern for animal rights activists in the Philippines, which is home to some 23.29 million dogs. Around 12,000,000 people own a dog. Yet there were at least 3,000 cases of animal maltreatment in 2020 alone, the Philippine animal welfare non-profit, Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA), found.

A resident in Marikina City, Philippines, posted a video on Wednesday showing a dog struggling to reach a safer area through the floodwaters caused by Super Typhoon Gaemi (CarinaPH) pic.twitter.com/fsUEE63JLh

— Volcaholic (@volcaholic1) July 24, 2024

“Cruelty to animals is a huge concern in the Philippines,” Ashley, 38, who is from British Columbia, Canada, but has lived in the Philippines for 17 years, said.

“While we’ve noticed that, thanks to increased social media use, locals are more aware of animal welfare concerns and more caring than a decade or so ago, the problem is still huge, especially in impoverished areas where it may be more difficult to keep dogs inside due to crowded living conditions,” Ashley said.

Tokyo:

Japan has expanded its commercial whaling to include fin whales, the second-largest animal species on the planet, a decision criticised by Australia’s government on Thursday.

One of only three countries to hunt whales commercially, along with Norway and Iceland, Japan added fin whales to a catch list that already includes minke, Bryde’s and sei whales.

“Essentially, our rationale is that there are sufficient resources” of fin whales, a fisheries agency official told AFP on Thursday of the plan to hunt 59 of them this year.

Fin whales are deemed “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Japan’s decision, mooted by authorities for months but only made official on Wednesday, has alarmed animal rights activists.

Australia is “deeply disappointed”, environment minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement.

“Australia is opposed to all commercial whaling and urges all countries to end this practice,” she said.

It comes as international drama surrounds prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was arrested in Greenland last month.

Watson, the 73-year-old American-Canadian founder of the activist group Sea Shepherd, was detained under an international arrest warrant issued by Tokyo.

Denmark’s justice ministry — Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory — said on Thursday that it has received a formal extradition request from Japan for Watson.

He was arrested after docking to refuel in Greenland’s capital on the way to “intercept” Japan’s new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

The Kangei Maru, a 9,300-tonne mothership that set off from Japan in May, processes whales caught by smaller vessels and stores their meat for consumption in Japan.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries and the meat was a key source of protein in the years after World War II.

It carried on hunting whales for “scientific” purposes after an International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, killing hundreds in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

However, after years of tensions that took a toll on its international reputation, Japan quit the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling inside its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Japan killed 294 whales last year, a number it says is sustainable.

A panel of experts commissioned by the agriculture ministry said in June that Japanese fishermen should be able to hunt fin whales.

Agriculture minister Tetsushi Sakamoto at the time called whales “an important food resource”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)