Animal shelter says “we were ghosted” by City Gov’t
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews /03 December) – The Happy Animals Club (HAC), a shelter for rescued animals facing an eviction order from the local court and given until December 31 to relocate, has nowhere to go after the city government allegedly reneged on its promise to provide an alternative property.
Barry Amante, a rescuer at HAC, told MindaNews on Tuesday that with only a few weeks left before the deadline, they have yet to find an alternative site for the shelter, which currently houses more than 300 stray animals rescued from the streets across the city.
The HAC, which has been operating since 2014, is currently raising funds to acquire new property.
According to Amante, they need at least P5 million to purchase land for building a new shelter.
In a statement on December 2, the shelter disclosed that it had already raised P2 million, but this amount was insufficient to cover the cost of acquiring land and constructing a building.
“Now that the City Government has made it clear they will not help us in any way, we are on our own. We have no choice but to raise as much funding as possible from the public so we can evacuate by the deadline,” it said.
The HAC received a notice from the Office of the City Administrator dated August 7 to vacate the land it occupies in Rigodon Extension, Lanzona Subdivision, Matina Crossing, after losing the unlawful detainer case filed by the property owner against it.
Responding to claims that HAC had been promised a new facility, the Office of the City Administrator, in a statement posted on the city government’s FB page last Monday, explained that representatives from the group were invited merely as advocates during preliminary discussions to provide inputs on the planned establishment of a city-owned animal shelter, which will serve “the broader community, not an exclusive facility for HAC.”
It stated that the HAC operates as a “non-profit organization run by private individuals” and that the city is “not involved in its operations and has no obligation to provide funding.”
The HAC was also encouraged to explore the possibility of partnering with the local government once the shelter becomes operational through a memorandum of agreement, according to the local government.
“If HAC is evicted by the private landowner, all animals currently housed in the facility will remain the property and responsibility of HAC. The City Government will not confiscate the animals,” the local government said.
On July 21, 2025, Leah Dano, HAC’s corporate secretary, wrote Atty. Tristan Dwight P. Domingo, acting city administrator, to inform him of the shelter’s previous communication with former city administrator Francis Mark H. Layog, who had “offered the group use of its property under a usufruct agreement” on October 25, 2023, after receiving a closure order from the local government in response to complaints about the noise and foul odor from the facility.
The shelter’s management believed that they had only been offered a city-owned property “to quell the public anger, and it worked,” but lamented that local government never delivered and instead claimed they were merely invited to provide inputs during meetings.
The HAC, according to Dano, was asked to choose from the list of sites provided by the local government, and the group chose the “Toril Batching Plant” as the location for its new shelter.
“Since the city offered us the property, we did not make any effort to secure a property on our own, and instead focused solely on our mission, which is rescuing dogs and cats in need from the streets of Davao City,” she said.
She claimed that Layog allegedly told them that they could begin transferring some rescued animals to the new site by November 2023.
The timeline was later moved to November 2024 and subsequently postponed again due to budget allocation requirements, she said.
“Currently, the shelter is in urgent need of a property for transfer, but because the City Administrator’s Office did not provide us with a property as promised, we have nowhere to move,” she said.
Dano also asked Domingo if the city government could instead lease the batching plant site to HAC for a period of 50 years and authorize the group to build structures on the property.
Amante said they never received any response from the local government to their request.
“Wala gyud communication sa City Hall. Gi-ghost ra jud mi nila (No communication from the City Hall. We were ghosted,” he said.
The HAC released a statement refuting the city government’s claims, calling its remarks a “feeble attempt at gaslighting.”
It said that if they were invited merely as participants to provide inputs for a project, as the local government claimed, the shelter questioned why no other animal welfare advocacy groups were aware of the project and why no other shelter or rescue groups were present at any of the meetings they attended.
It also questioned why they were taken to inspect three different sites and then asked to choose the lot “if the project is for the broader community.”
“Why did the City Administrator ask us to email a list of requirements and facilities for the new project? Why would our own specific needs matter if the project is for the broader community?” HAC asked.
It added that there were people present during the meetings who could testify that the local government promised them an exclusive property with facilities. (Antonio L. Colina / MindaNews)
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