Baguio shares spay and neuter best practice with other LGUs

The Baguio City Veterinary and Agriculture Office (CVAO) is sharing its spay and neuter best practice with other local government units (LGUs) across the Cordilleras and beyond through its outreach expertise sharing program.

The CVAO headed by City Veterinarian Dr. Silardo Bested and Asst. Head Dr. Gladys Bantog said their spay and neuter program is considered as one of the city’s best practices being a program model for animal welfare and responsible pet population management.

He said the outreach program complements the spay and neuter services that the CVAO provides in their office and in the city’s barangays year-round.

From April to October, the CVAO conducted six outreach missions bringing free spay and neuter services to Cordillera towns helping communities that have limited access to veterinary care.

Field operations were conducted in Bontoc and Sagada in Mountain Province in April and September, 2025; in Lagawe and Mayaoyao in Ifugao in October and at the Benguet State University also last October.

A total of 311 cats and dogs benefited from the expertise of the city’s veterinary surgeons.

The city also participated in “Libreng Pakapon” mass spaying and neutering services, a major outreach event held last Oct. 19, 2025 at Luneta Park in Manila in partnership with Biyaya Animal Care Philippines where a total of 1,316 animals were served.

For its local spay and neuter services conducted at their office, the CVAO served a total of 3,307 dogs and cats from January to October 2025.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong lauded the CVAO for bringing the program to other towns which he said highlights Baguio’s commitment to regional collaboration, humane stray animal control and community education.Bested said they hope to further expand its outreach activities next year to assist more communities and reduce stray populations through sustained, compassionate and science-based interventions. – Aileen P. Refuerzo