Filipinos urged to adopt strays to mark New Year

MANILA - To welcome the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year of the Dog, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Sunday urged Filipinos to adopt a dog.

On Monday, members of the welfare group will take to the streets of Manila's Chinatown Binondo brandishing signs that read "Happy Year of the Dog. Adopt, Don't Shop". Binondo is the world's oldest Chinatown.

Jana Sevilla of PETA said that Monday's event is to encourage tourists and shoppers to adopt dogs from the local shelter or rescue groups instead of buying purebreds from pet stores or breeders, "which simply serves to exacerbate the homeless-animal crisis".