Dog slaughter for consumption was banned in the Philippines in 1982. This ban was reinforced in 1998 via the Animal Welfare Act which prohibits killing dogs for food with minimum penalties set at 1,000 pesos (equivalent to about US$22 at the time) and not less than six months in prison. The 2007 Anti-Rabies Act, passed in 2007, increased the severity of punishment with minimum fines of 5,000 pesos per dog and not less than one year of imprisonment for participating in the trading of dogs for their meat.

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Despite the dramatic decrease in trade, (which was further affected by amendments to the laws in 2011, introducing heavier penalties), a small amount of trading and as long as it still exists.

​Laws mean little if they are not enforced. The government of the Philippines has continually done little to protect dogs, enforce the law and bring an end to this horrific and illicit trade. Moreover there is a loophole which states ‘with exemptions for dogs and cats killed and eaten as part of indigenous rituals.’