This article was written by Pia Regalado on July 10, 2023 published on Spot.ph
If you've been to the University of the Philippines Diliman, you've probably seen cats wandering around campus. And before you think they're just hanging around, know that there's an animal welfare group in campus that pioneered in helping these cats live there peacefully, and train them to be emotional support animals, too.
FOCA UP, which stands for Friends of Campus Animals, is a group put up by a self-confessed animal lover and College of Mass Communication (CMC) professor Khrysta Imperial Rara as she aims to protect these furry friends and to inform the UP community and beyond that these animals mean no harm, as long as we coexist with them in peace.
How stray UP cats found an ally in campus
PHOTO BY Khrysta Imperial Rara
The professor and journalist has been writing about animal welfare in Manila Bulletin's Animals Scene since the 2000s. Others who knew about this asked if she wanted to put up a group catering to the needs of campus cats in UP so as to address the alleged issues of animal cruelty there.
No, she said back then. It's too time-consuming and expensive, and where would she be getting volunteers and the funds for that kind of work?
Come 2015, a CMC staff informed her that stray cats and dogs from different colleges would be rounded up and brought to the pound the following day. "Ano na mangyayari kina KitKat?" the staff asked of the senior stray cat residing at CMC.
"The following morning, I woke up with a jolt and remembered in my dream the word FOCA—Friends of Campus Animals. I just knew it was time to put up a group."
She asked two more Maskom faculty member and staff to help her save the strays from being rounded up as she wrote a letter—complete with a proposal on how to save campus animals—to then-Chancellor Michael Tan, who happened to be a veterinarian and an animal welfare supporter. As it turned out, he also wanted to stop the roundups in different colleges in UPD, but didn't know if he would have the backing of others inside campus as some of them saw these strays as pests, Rara said.
An animal management committee was eventually formed, and in 2019, FOCA UP founder Rara was asked to lead it.
Her CMC and Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) students helped FOCA UP to come up with ways on how to help campus animals and how to raise funds for spay/neuter, or a safe way to sterilize and castrate them as means to control their reproduction and eventually, reduce incidents of animal homelessness or worse, extermination. Students are also authorized to man FOCA UP's social media accounts.
"I really wanted to help the animals kasi ang daming colleges na gusto sila ipatanggal and only the promise of kapon and hindi na sila dadami would sort of convince them na they can stay."
Welcome to Balay Kaibigan, a home for stray cats and dogs in UP
Look for this tarp when you come visit Balay Kaibigan.
PHOTO BY Pia Regalado
After several years of campus-wide spay/neutering projects, Rara in 2019 faced her biggest project: castration and sterilization (kapon) of 700 campus cats where more than 100 volunteers lent a hand. In case you don't know, spayed female felines need three days to heal while neutered males need 24 hours to recuperate. Chancellor Tan had to find a place inside campus as none of the buildings in the academic area wanted to house these cats during their recovery.
In May 2019, a month before the scheduled kapon project, Tan found an old, empty house in UP's residential area along Juan Luna street in Area 1. The termite-infested house was vacated six months prior, and became the recovery home for the cats.
The house was then named Balay Kaibigan and placed under the care of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCCA), which is in charge of its utility expenses. The office hired contractual worker Hans Reario, who has been taking care and training Balay's non-human occupants for five years without breaks, even at times when budget was scarce and he had to work without pay.
Good boi Red Fox accepts friend chicken any time.
PHOTO BY Khrysta Imperial Rara
That project also paved the way for Rara to start rescuing campus dogs. Rara recalled how they took in Red Fox the dog from Ipil Residence Hall. A Special Services Brigade (SSB) staff volunteered to adopt him, only to return Red Fox three days after because he wouldn't eat. Turns out, Red Fox wanted fried chicken.
Red Fox soon became a Balay Kaibigan resident and trained under SAGIP Community K9 to become a first responder dog. He is also an emotional support dog "kasi ang bait, really," said Rara.
At Balay Kaibigan, anyone—from students to UP outsiders—can visit to meet and pet the animals. You can even take the dogs out for a walk or a run around campus as long as you speak with FOCA UP first before dropping by.
Need emotional support? These community pets can be your companion and give you the comfort you need. Such was the case when some buildings in UP Diliman became COVID facilities at the height of the pandemic. Students problematic with their academic requirements also visited to safely play with the campus animals.
Good doggo Harry is an emotional support dog who loves taking walks and getting belly rubs. PHOTO BY Khrysta Imperial Rara
"April 2022, sabi ng then vice chancellor, let's visit the dorms. Let the dogs visit the dorms kasi stressed na stressed na students so puntahan mo sa dorms. So all the students were so happy," she said.
Taking care of another house of pets can be too taxing, Rara said. Sometimes, her mind wanders off to the cats and dogs at Balay Kaibigan even while she's at home with her own pets: eight dogs and 15 cats.
"Kahit 'pag nasa bahay ako, 'yung isip ko [nasa Balay Kaibigan] kasi ngayon, anytime the students can contact you, so kahit outside class hours, I'm checking 'yung kanilang ginawa for the adoption campaign, answering inquiries on how to adopt, rescuing pets pero we don't do because we don't have the funds for rescuing," she said.
Help these campus pets "graduate"
True to its mission of upholding animal welfare, FOCA UP takes care of community training for dogs, holds seminars and workshops in animal handling, does regular TNVR (trap-spay/neuter-vaccine-return), actively changes the community's perception about stray animals through information campaign and activities. It also encourages visits to Balay Kaibigan so humans can interact with these animals, and who knows, maybe take them home and become their fur parent.
Kotton and his hooman, Prof. Khrysta Rara.
PHOTO BY Khrysta Imperial Rara
Rara is one of them. She found a dirty pup around CMC, bringing him food and attention that the dog enjoyed. She saw that beneath the dirt was white fur. With a promise that one day he would be rid of the insects on his back and his dirty skin, the professor called him Kotton. She brought him and other CMC stray dogs to Balay Kaibigan and after two years, brought Kotton to her home. He became one of UP Diliman's emotional support animals (ESA) and trained to be a search and rescue K9.
"Maganda 'yung knowing Kotton is able to help and he is able to do that because I rescued him. If hindi ko siya ni-rescue siyempre 'yung talents 'nya 'di lalabas. For all you know puwedeng patay na siya ngayon but because I took him in, he is able to return that favor by making others happy."
Those who want to bring home a campus animal can't choose whom to bring home. Instead, the cats and dogs get to choose. After going through an interview with Rara—a must to ensure adopters have the means to properly take care of them—they can visit Balay Kaibigan.
"You have to come here, sit in the middle of the floor, wait kung sino lalapit sa inyo. 'Yung lalapit sa inyo means the cat chose you. That cat is going home with you. It's not the other way around."
PHOTO BY Khrysta Imperial Rara
Some cats are quick to respond to visitors like 18-year-old KitKat, CMC's feline matriarch, who jumped onto this author's lap a couple of minutes after sizing me up. (Sadly, KitKat passed away a few days before this story was published, but her story lives on here and at Balay Kaibigan.) It can also take hours before anyone approaches; on the other side of the spectrum, there may be times when you will be asked to adopt more than one.
"I always explain to them, this cat, ito best friend n'yan. If you take only this cat, kunwari si Turquoise, then Dutchess will be miserable for the rest of her life kasi she's not friends with anyone else."
"May mga pusa dito na hindi friendly, ayaw magpahawak but I'm not worried because I know when the time comes and they recognize their person, lalapit sila."
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| Don't forget to touch or pet Giada, a rescue from the College of Home Economics, who will do the elevator butt for you. |
When a pet gets adopted, they "graduate" from Balay Kaibigan. If for some reason, the pets don't settle well at home or the fur parents need to let them go, they can always bring them back to Balay.
Out of more than 130 adoptees, only two were returned so far, said Rara.
Those who want to adopt can reach out via FOCA UP's Facebook account or through Utak at Pusa, a FOCA UP initiative which aims to raise awareness and funds for the group's projects while fostering a safe online community of animal lovers.
How you can extend help to FOCA UP
Can't adopt? FOCA UP also accepts other forms of assistance such as volunteers to take care and walk the campus animals. Make sure to contact FOCA UP or Utak at Pusa's Facebook page before dropping by, ideally between Mondays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Food donations are most welcome. For dog food, Balay Kaibigan needs Top Breed. For cat food, Power Cat or Special Cat will do, said Rara. So far, there is only one regular donor who can supply just half of what the Balay Kaibigan occupants need per month, meaning Rara would have to shoulder the rest from her own pocket.
Extending financial assistance is also welcomed. Those interested to do so may send their donation via GCash: Noel Agulto - 0956-489-2001. Do indicate that the donation is for FOCA UP and/or Utak and Pusa, and send a screenshot of the deposit to their official Facebook page.
So why put all these efforts for the campus animals? For Rara, it's essential for humans to be close to animals and to understand it's a mutually-beneficial relationship, even if others may not immediately see it or even get in the way of it.
"We have been separated from our true selves. Some people would say I feel alien, I'm just a shell... Being close to an animal somehow brings us closer to nature or to that lost part of ourselves that sometimes we don't know we've lost pero nandoon 'yung emptiness that they are able to fill."
