MANILA - Fur parent Yvette Mayo visited a barangay-run cat pound in Dasmarinas, Cavite last Sunday to look for her friend's missing cat. 

But upon arriving at the facility, she was shocked to witness the conditions of the felines inside the pound.

She saw dead cats being consumed by other cats.

Mayo suspected that the cats may have been driven to cannibalism due to starvation.

She took footage of the area which showed numerous cats looking malnourished in filthy cages.

"Nataranta ako kasi ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ganun eksena na pusa kinakain kapwa pusa at talagang tinik na tinik na pusa ubos na ubos ang katawan," Yvette said. 

(I was alarmed because it was the first time I witnessed such a scene where cats were eating each other, and they were really thin, with their bodies almost entirely consumed.)

But Barangay San Jose chairman Jeff Frani insisted that the cats were not neglected, asserting that they were fed twice daily by two caretakers.

He even showed sacks of cat food to prove that the felines inside the shelter were well-fed.

Frani said the barangay passed an ordinance in January to keep stray dogs and cats off the streets.

"Yung barangay council nagpasa ordinance para masolusyunan problema lalo mga nakakagat [ng] also, pusa. Halos every two weeks meron nalapit sa akin para magpa-vaccine kaya yun naisip namin solusyon na lahat nakagala ba aso at pusa eh makuha at maalagaan sa shelter," Frani said. 

(The barangay council passed an ordinance to address the problem, especially with stray dogs and cats. Almost every two weeks, someone comes to me to have their dogs and cats vaccinated, so we thought of a solution to get all the roaming dogs and cats and take care of them in the shelter.)

Yvette's video went viral, and barangay officials received backlash from netizens.

This prompted Frani to free the cats.

Amid concerns of neglect of the feline inhabitants, the City Veterinary Office of Dasmariñas ordered Barangay San Jose to stop taking in stray cats and dogs until they have a suitable facility.

"To stop the impounding dun sa San Jose secondly to educate their people on how to properly segregate yung lalo sa cats po yung mga aggressive, mga may sakit, kelangan ihiwalay ang facility dapat facility nilDrasa says," Dr. Andrew Buencamino, the City Veterinarian, said in a phone interview.

(To stop the impounding in San Jose, secondly, to educate their people on how to properly segregate, especially with cats, the aggressive ones, the sick ones need to be separated by sexes, and their facility should be in good condition.)

Buencamino said cannibalism is rare among felines but this does not necessarily mean the cats are starving.

“Di lang dahil nagugutom sila pero marami pong factors yan kasama ang stress," he stressed.

(It's not necessarily because they are hungry. There are many factors, including stress.)

On Thursday, the City Veterinary Office, together with barangay officials, is scheduled to recover the cats that were freed and bring them to a suitable shelter.