Friday, August 18, 2023

๐—™๐—˜๐—”๐—ง๐—จ๐—ฅ๐—˜: “The Aspins: Get to know your lovely native dogs to celebrate Aspin Day!” by Ashly Ayhen Jeniebre

 


Published by: Faith Villaluna 

Date Published: August 18, 2023

Time Published: 4:08 PM


On this day, August 18th of 2023, we are once again celebrating National Aspin Day. 


These Filipino Dogs originating right here from our lands had been roaming around our streets for as long as we can remember. Despite often being overlooked and subjected to animal cruelty, these dogs have a lot to offer, just like your purebred dogs!


Here are some of the fun facts about these local canines that will hopefully make you appreciate these native ‘doggos’ a little bit more. 


๐—”๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ!


Contrary to the popular belief, Aspins do in fact have breeds! They are mixed by many of them, in fact, that it became hard to tell what breed they came from. 


Despite this though, they are considered as mongrel dogs, and you can easily spot one just around your street. You can instantly characterize them by being mostly medium-sized dogs, and their colors and varies by a lot! [1]


๐—”๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€’ ๐—ฑ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜.


If you look at almost every street here in the Philippines, you are guaranteed to find Aspins immediately. It has been noted that they are great at navigating, most especially in various areas of the place [2].


Due to this resiliency, they had become low-maintenance and relatively healthy dogs that independently tour around their area [3].


๐—”๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ.


Remember Kabang, who was dubbed as a “Hero Dog” by many people? Yes, that heroic dog is just one of the testimonies that Aspins can show you love like how humans would to one another. 


These charming dogs are can also be a good companions to children and dogs alike. Just like any other dog breeds, they will repay your love and kindness tenfold times [3]. Now that sounds like a good deal!


๐—”๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜€.


Have you ever seen your neighbors having an Aspin just chilling just outside their houses? Yep, you’ve guessed it, Aspins are also good guard dogs that are loyal to their families!


Some Aspins are capable as working dogs that had already served various government agencies such as the Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard and much more [1]. They work very hard along side their humans!


๐—”๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ด๐˜€!


These canine companions are more than being just “lesser dogs”. They deserve as much appreciation, recognition and care like every other dogs.


Whether they are recognized as a breed of dog or not, these are animals that feel and wants to live their life. Treat them with kindness, and it’s certain that will repay it back, with as much affection and loyalty.


Layout by Ashly Ayhen Jeniebre


IMAGE SOURCE:

Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). (n.d.) Home [Facebook Page]. Facebook. Retrieved August 18, 2023 from https://www.facebook.com/pawsphilippines


REFERENCES:

[1] Bohol Animal Rescue & Kindness. (n.d.). Aspin, the Philippine dog. https://www.bark.org.ph/aspin/
[2] PawsGeek. (n.d.). What is an Askal Dog? Breed, Trainability, & Other Essential Facts. https://www.pawsgeek.com/what-is-an-askal-dog/...
[3] Leaรฑo, R. (2017, September 3). A Guide to Aspins, the Philippines’ Native Dogs. Primer. https://primer.com.ph/.../2017/09/03/expats-guide-to-aspins/

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