Gabriela

I was branded as "Gabriela" for animals by Chrissie, one of my blockmates, due to my unyielding fight against animal abuse. I am a hardcore animal rights activist, yelling shamelessly at some people who hurt animals in front of me. If only I'm not too busy with my intern duties in the hospital, people might find me volunteering for helping homeless dogs and cats and bringing them to shelters like PAWS. I really don't know how I got this passion for animals, I just recall when I was still a kid that I bring home kittens and puppies which I pick up from streets. My mom would scold me and put the poor creatures back to the streets.

I have 2 dogs at home, Shian and Shane, both 8 years old (56 in canine years), and a family of cats, Set, Miming and Susette. I also have an aquarium of fishes and 3 cages of lovebirds. I just love them so much, I consider them not as animals pets but as family members. People usually ask about the breeds of my dogs and cats and they usually get disappointed whenever I say that they're mixed breeds of chowchow-retriever and terrier-labrador and that my cats are actually "pusang kalye." They think I'm stupid to treat them like humans, feeding them well and even make them wear clothes (haha!) and allowing them to sleep inside my bedroom just because they are not pure breeds. "Sayang naman, they're close to being askals! Dapat mga imported lang yung nasa bahay. Pag askal, tinatali lang sa may gate" some would say. I don't know about them, but isn't that being discriminating? I mean, it's like saying don't let the blacks get inside your homes because we're all whites? Pure breed or not, they're equal, they're all canines, they are all creatures of God who are capable of doing good and they also have feelings. Yes, they have emotions. They also feel happy, sad and angry. So don't take it against the dog if they bit you because you made fun of him or beat him or pull his tail, he has all the reason to get mad at you. Just learn your lesson and be more humane next time and get an anti-rabies vaccine ASAP.

When people get shocked that Shane actually has an epileptic disorder and that we have to maintain him on an antiepileptic drug daily, which they find it ridiculous or funny, I just smile and realize more that there's still a lot of people out there who are still ignorant about animals. Like humans, they also have anatomical parts like brain, heart, lungs, and all the gastrointestinal organs you could think of...which means that like humans, they could have diseases of the brain like epilepsy, psychological disorders (yup, you read it right, psychological), hypertension, heart diseases, pneumonia, cancer...almost all human diseases you could think of. And that's not weird. Some people are just not informed. Or refused to get informed. Or use their brains. Can you feel my rage? Yup, that's why I'm called the Gabriela for animals.