By JOSEPH PEDRAJAS
TALISAY, Batangas – Residents rescued more animals, mostly horses, from Taal Volcano yesterday morning as they tried their luck to return to the island.
Twenty-five horses were seen in Barangay Sta. Maria here around 9 a.m. They were recently rescued from the volcano island and transported via boat.
A number of horses earlier rescued from the island were transferred to proper facilities, according to locals here.
“Ang mga kabayo’y karugtong na ng aming buhay…Siyempre, sila ang aming pinagkakakitaan,” Edwin Maguinao said.
Horses had been helping the residents here since they were used to carry tourists visiting the peak of the island to see the crater of the Taal Volcano.
Jana Sevilla, senior rescue coordinator of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, believed that some 3,000 horses were in the area before the volcano started its eruptive activities.
Many people feared that all animals there have been killed as ashfall brought by the volcano have blanketed the whole island.
But Sevilla said that they were “surprised to see that there were more live animals than those that were dead” when they went to the island Wednesday. “We’re expecting the worse, pero pagdating namin, maraming buhay.”
Members of PETA, who were able to enter here amid the lockdown, were assisting residents to decide on the fate of their animals.
They were offering a farm in Alfonso, Cavite as temporary shelter for the residents’ animals. At least 30 horses are already there, Sevilla said.
However, Sevilla added that, they were first letting residents to decide what to do with their animals as some just preferred to sell them.
Small horses could be bought for as low as P3,500, four goats for just P13,000, and two cows for P60,000, the residents here disclosed as several transactions have been closed.
“As much as possible, hindi namin pinapabenta kasi siyempre kakatayin,” Sevilla said. “Pero hindi naman namin sila mapipigilan kasi ‘yun ang livelihood nila,” she added.
