CHAPTER 3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This section presents the data gathered from the 8 participants coming from

the PNP in-charge in traffic management, 8 motorist participants, and also 8 pet

owners.

The Dangers Astray Animals Can Bring in the Highways of Tabuk City,

Kalinga

Interviews and focused group discussions made on the dangers that astray

animals can bring in the highways of Tabuk City Kalinga revolved around six (6)

major themes which includes the possible loss of life, physical injuries, damages

to properties, personal disputes, risk to human health, and negative

psychological impact to the victim.

May Lead to Loss of Life

Astray animals during night time make it difficult for us drivers of motor

vehicles to spot them due to darkness which can result in road accidents if

colliding with them; and some of the astray animals, especially roaming dogs,

chase motor vehicles, which might cause accidents if motorists are shocked and

lose control of the vehicle. Like what happened on the 25th day of August 2022,

in which a woman died after a motorcycle she was on collided with a stray dog

along the national road in Barangay Lucog Thursday morning. Police Major

Connie Baglinit relayed that a married couple identified as Jake Dumaging and

Deborah Dumaging of Dangoy, Lubuagan were riding their XRM motorcycle

toward Bulanao when the tragedy happened in Lucog around 7:20 AM. A witness

states, "bigla nga nag ballasiw jay aso kt haan naka preno jay drayber kt na
 Result and Discussions 24

dungpar na jay aso” (stray dog suddenly crossed the road, and it was too late for

the rider to step on the brake of the motorcycle directly hitting the stray animal).

Due to the impact the couple was thrown off approximately 27 meters away from

the impact. The victims were rushed to the Kalinga Provincial Hospital by a

concerned citizen. Unfortunately, Deborah was declared dead on arrival (Lo-oy,

2022).

Hence, accidents involving stray animals may result in the loss of life of both

motorists and stray animals. The death may also cause psychological anguish to

the victim's family members. And due to the irresponsible mentality of some

animal owners, more deaths may result from accidents involving stray animals.

It May Cause Physical Injuries

Roaming animals especially in the highways when collided by motorist

could causes human injuries like broken bones, soft tissue injuries, brain injuries,

spinal cord injuries and dislocations. Like what happened on the 28 th day of

September, 2019 at around 8:10AM, members of the City Disaster Risk and

Reduction and Management (CDRRM) personnel witnessed a vehicular accident

that transpired along the Provincial Road in Barangay Magsaysay while driving

from Dagupan to Bulanao. The victim was identified as Kylle Magnao, 21, and a

resident of Purok 1, Bulanao. The CDRRM reports that Magnao who was driving

his Honda 125 motorcycle was travelling to Dagupan when a dog suddenly

crossed the street. He lost his balance while trying to avoid the dog that resulted

to an accident.

In an initial assessment, the victim felt pain on his left hand and leg and has
 Result and Discussions 25

incurred multiple abrasions on his forehead and hands.

The CDRRMC Emergency Response Team (ERT) gave him first aid then

immediately brought him to the Kalinga Provincial Hospital for further medical

evaluation and treatment.

Based on the data we can clearly observe that injuries due to vehicular traffic

accidents caused by astray animals are absolute when a motorist does not follow

laws on wearing helmets, gloves and shoes especially when driving a

motorcycle.

Hence, accidents involving astray animals may result to physical injuries that

would cause trauma to the victim and even worse it may cause disability to the

victim due to the injuries that the victim incurred during the accident involving an

astray animal.

These instances find similar results with the study of Rowden, P.,

Steinhsrdt, D., & Sheeban, M. (2008) on road crashes involving animals in

Australia. The study revealed that vehicle and animal collisions result in

considerable vehicle repair costs, injury to person, and loss of animal life.

Crashes between animals and vehicles result in fatalities and injuries. However,

only 2% out of the 10% reported vehicle-animal crashes resulted in non-fatal

personal injury to drivers or occupants (Hughes et.al, 1997).

It May Cause Damage of Properties

Roaming animals in highways could cause destructions of properties when

a motorist avoided an astray animals and they crashed on a house, fence or

other properties belonging to another person leading to damages of that

properties including his or her motor vehicle. Like what happened on May 15,

2022 9 pm. When Mr. Zylo Jage Araza was traversing from Barangay Bulanao to

Calanan using a motorcycle he collided with a cow near the bridge in FF Cruz,

Bulanao Centro, Tabuk City, Kalinga he stated that “rabii gamin dijy kt medyo

agtudtudo idi agpasang at nak pag labas ko jay bassit nga rangtay bigla nga

adda iti adu nga baka kt gapu ta nagalis iti dalan ta agtud-tudo hannakon naka

preno kt nabanggak jay maysa nga baka kt nadadael jay motor ko nakillo fork na

tapos nagasgas ak pay” (it was already dark and its raining, when I passed

through the short bridge of ff cruz suddenly there was a herd of cows and due to

the slippery road I didn’t have enough time to press my break that’s why I

collided with the cow leaving with my damage motorcycle and bruises.

Hence, accidents involving astray animals may result in damage to properties

owned by the victim that may lead to loss of money that will be used when

repairing and replacing the damaged parts of the vehicle that was used during

the incident.

It may cause dispute

VTA’s involving astray animals can cause disagreement or quarrel between

the owner of the astray animals and the victim that may lead to violence or

conflicts between tribes. Like what happened in barangay Nambucayan, Tabuk

City, Kalinga where a truck run over an astray dog that damaged the truck and

immediately killed the astray dog. And when the owner of the astray dog heard

about the incident he was angered and confronted the driver of truck a Ms. Rolyn

B. Pagtud a witness stated that “ idi nalpas jay naaramid nga nadalisan jay aso,
 Result and Discussions 27

napan inung ungtan jay akin bagi jay aso ajay driver iti truck binugbuggakawan

na jay driver nga apay gamin kanu nagpaspas isuna ngem after hour

nagkasundo da mt nga suktan jay driver iti maysa nga uken jy nadalisan na”

(after the said incident the owner of the astray dog confronted and shouted at the

truck driver however, after an hour they settled by replacing the dead astray dog

with a puppy).

Hence, accidents involving astray animals may result to disputes between

the parties that may lead to violent confrontation that would severe the peace

here in our province because as we know here in Kalinga we have a saying

which is “blood is thicker than water” and it implies that whatever happens even if

it is the mistake of our brothers of kakailyan we will still join and fight for them in

times of trouble.

It may Cause Risk to Human Health

Astray animals along the highways may also pose a threat to human health.

Like what happened to Jester Daluson, a student of Kalinga National High

School on June 14, 2016. While he was traversing the road going to his school,

an astray dog suddenly attacked him and bit his right foot. The victim stated that

“ naka motor nak idjy kt idi lummabas ak idjy themes kinamat iti adu nga aso jay

motor ko kt idi naabutan nak ta medyo madi jay dalan nakagat jy kannawan nga

sakak” ( I was driving a motorcycle and passed through the street of themes near

kalinga national highschool when a group of dogs chased my motorcycle and

due to the un maintained road the dogs caught up and bit me on my right foot)

Luckily, he was immediately brought to the hospital for immediate relief and
 Result and Discussions 28

check-up. However, the bite penetrated the skin and the attending physician

advised Mr. Daluson to undergo a rabies treatment at the animal bite center.

This not only costs him money but also his time and disrupts his studies.

Hence, accidents involving astray animals may result in risk to human health,

cats and dogs are the most common astray animals that carry numerous

transferable diseases which can be harmful to humans like rabies and when left

untreated will lead to the death of the infected person.

It may cause negative Psychological Effect

Traumatic experiences due to accidents may also lead to negative

psychological effects to both the riding public and the animals involved. Aside

from the physiological marks from animal bites or accidents resulting therefrom,

the psychological impact is a deeper injury which has a disabling effect on the

victims for the coming years. Internal traumas may require therapy if not lifelong

fear of animals.

Individuals involved in accidents may experience post-traumatic stress

disorder. Victims may relive the traumatic experience of the accident whenever

they see triggers such as similar incidents, location or those involved. According

to the World Health Organization (WHO), trauma resulting from vehicular

accidents is becoming a concern, with death projected to 8.4 million in 2020

especially in developing countries. The impact of the trauma from vehicular

accidents inevitably compromises the victim’s quality of life resulting in

psychological and emotional distress, occupational disability, family

disintegration, and socio-economic difficulty (WHO, 2002; Blanchard & Hickling,

2007). In a study conducted by Al-Kofahy (2011), survivors of vehicular accidents

develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Moreover, the impact of the traumatic

experience extends not only to the victim but also to his family, friends, and

community.

One of the respondents in this study recounted his experience, which

according to him, still haunts him up to the present. His experience happened on

the 14th day of June 2016 at Kalinga National High School. While traversing the

barangay road, a dog suddenly jumped over and started attacking him. Despite

accelerating the motorcycle, the dog was able to bit his calf causing him to panic

and lose control of the motorcycle. Gaining back his senses, he rushed away

from the site. From then on, Mr. Jester Daluson becomes wary of dogs and is

fearful whenever there are dogs along the roads, hence he opts to change routes

as much as possible or if not to traverse the roads with someone. This

experience corroborates with the findings of Al-Kofahy (2011) on the post-

traumatic stress disorder experienced by motor vehicle accident victims in

Jordan. Accordingly, victim’s loss and struggle to maintain a sense of

independence when exposed to triggers related to their traumatic experiences.

The thought of relying on others for their supposed normal activities was often

untenable, compromising their sense of independence and that of the people

with whom they rely on. Being in such a state of dependence becomes a

constant source of distress among the victims. Mr. Emilliano C. Ruidera cited the

same feelings and sentiments and expressed his reluctance to do errands

whenever he has to pass by the site of the accident or to areas with astray
 Result and Discussions 30

animals particularly of streets where dogs freely roam. Another respondent also

aired a feeling of regret for having passed the area.

On the flipside, animal survivors of accidents also experience negative

effects on their nature. There has been a growing study that animals also

experience behavioral changes due to traumatic experiences. Sharon Levy

(2021) in her BBC report on August 31, 2021, explained that chronic stress on

the environment causes animals to eat a little and reproduce less. Traumatic

experiences can cause neurobiological changes that keep some animals, like

hares, wild mammals and songbirds, from reproducing below normal levels.

Offspring of these animals inherit the stress hormones of their parents resulting

in lower reproduction and survivability rate.

When these dangers are kept unchecked, they may result in more

devastating issues and concerns such as increasing loss of life, financial losses,

and injuries to those involved including the concerned animal.

One of the implications of the presence of astray animals along the roads

includes the loss of life of the drivers and /or passengers just like in the case of

Deborah Dumaging who lost his life due to the collision of his motorcycle with an

astray animal. If this similar instance is not given preferential attention by the

local leaders and policy makers, then other passerby is at risk of experiencing

the same accident.

Equally important is the loss of animal lives involved in vehicular accidents.

Studies in the field of road ecology revealed that animal collisions can be major

causes of vertebrate mortality potentially limiting wildlife population (Kiros, et.al.,

2016). In developed countries, mitigating structures such as animal bridges and

underpasses are constructed to limit animal collisions and loss of wild lives,

however, this can be costly for developing countries such as the Philippines,

hence are not given much attention. Studies of (Kiros, 2016) and (Samson, 2016)

showed high rates of animal deaths along the highways due to vehicular

collisions.

Increasing injuries related to animal-vehicular accidents will also prosper

when not given attention. Lack of safety measures in ensuring the safety of

animals or pets by the pet owners may result in sustained increase in reported

injuries. Animals such as goats and sheep left to roam on the streets may cause

fatal accidents as they cross the roads and get hit by oncoming motorcycles and

vehicles. Some drivers/ riders who opt to avoid these animals eventually run into

more serious dangerous situations such as passengers waiting for bus or traders

and buyers at the roadside (Oginni, 2008). In a similar study of (Mohanti et.al.

2021), a total of 185 patients had suffered road traffic accidents (RTA) due to

animal vehicle collisions (AVC) during the study period. Stray dogs account for

69% of cases followed by cattle 21% cases. 41% of all RTA victims had

polytrauma. Patients with RTA due to impact with ox were found to have higher

injury severity scores. In the United States, an estimated four million dog bites

occur annually where 756,000 require medical attention. Similarly, 15-16 deaths

occur annually with an estimated $100 million medical cost (Langley & Hunter,

2001).

In the international perspective, studies in the US recorded financial losses

reaching over a billion dollars of vehicle damage annually due to animal- vehicle

collisions. Costs include the cost of repair of the damaged vehicle and other

properties. This is problematic in cases when properties are not insured or not

covered by insurance claims. In Australia, insurance companies have also drawn

attention to the amount of motor vehicle insurance claims associated with animal-

vehicle collisions which is gradually increasing from 11,000 claims in 2003 to

17,748 claims in 2004 (NRMA, 2005). Unfortunately, the same cannot be

categorically said in the case of the Philippines, let alone Tabuk City, due to the

limited number of clienteles, insurance companies, and insurers covering similar

cases.

Continued presence of astray animals along the roads may jeopardize the

road safety of riders/drivers. Data from 2020-2023 shows an increasing trend of

reported incidents with many cases unreported. Limited and poor implementation

of structural and non-structural mitigating strategies will only encourage other pet

owners to irresponsibly allow their pets roam freely.

Mapping of Traffic Accident Areas in Tabuk City, Kalinga

Figure 1 presents the recorded VTAs of Tabuk City PNP caused by astray

animals that transpired within Tabuk City from CY 2020-2023.

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
Nambaran Calanan Laya East Bulanao Lacnog

2023 2022 2021 2020

Figure 1. Vehicular Traffic Accident due to Astray Animals

Laya East

Nambaran

Bulanao

Lacnog

Calanan
 Result and Discussions 34

Figure 2. Tabuk City Map depicting the locations where accidents happen due to

astray animals.

Since 2020, a total of seven VTAs were reported to the traffic Investigation

Unit. Majority of it were from the barangay Bulanao and Nambaran both with two

reported incidents while only one were reported for barangay Calanan, Laya-east

and Lacnog. No incidents were reported from the 38 other barangays of the city.

All of the incident happened along the national roads in the city. The map shows

the location of VTAs due to astray animals from CY 2020-2023 Respondent

Crime Registrar of Tabuk City Police Station Daryl T. Dawey claims that there

are more accidents occurring due to astray animals but most were unreported for

several reasons including settlement between parties to avoid further disruptions

and the like.

It can be gleaned from the table (Figure 1) that there are only seven (7)

VTAs in the city caused by astray animals and the majority of Vehicular traffic

accident caused by astray animals are from Barangay Bulanao and Barangay

Nambaran due to heavier traffic flows, population of astray Animals and there are

more people who built their houses near the highway.

Hence, vehicular traffic accidents involving astray animals are becoming

prevalent posing a serious threat to the safety of life, security and property of

every motorist here in Tabuk City, Kalinga. It is also dangerous to the life of

animals since they don’t have the right rationality to understand the simplest

rules when crossing the roads, perhaps we humans as the higher animals should
 Result and Discussions 35

in order to protect our lives and the animals.