My family and I met Vina at a dog adoption event by CARA Welfare Philippines sometime in late 2012. Like most, if not all, of the adoptees there and with other animal welfare groups in the Philippines, Vina was an aspin, short for asong Pinoy or the collective term for the breed of Philippine native dogs. Rescued from the streets of Taguig City just a few months before, she was still a puppy and was in foster care with a kind, generous lady who was a volunteer with the organization.
My children and I took to her and we inquired about Vina. So started the process of match-making. We visited Vina a few times in her temporary home with Karla, her rescuer and foster mom. We spent time together, getting a feel for a connection, a potential familial bond between dog and humans. Karla visited our home too to make sure that Vina would have a good environment.
After some weeks, we received the good news! We were a match! Vina was going to become part of our family!
We welcomed Vina into our home and into our family in October 2012. Great timing as he was able to join us trick-or-treating in our village on Halloween (even though she didn’t get any candy 😉 ). Because she was still teething, she did end up chewing on some chair legs and slippers despite having her own favorite chew toys. She happily took walks with us to the village park everyday. She befriended a particular dog from down the street who became her favorite playmate. She loved to cuddle in bed, especially with the kids. She was a wonderful first family pet.
We knew Vina was smart, especially since we saw how quickly she learned to behave and to follow commands like “sit” and “high five.” She was also toilet-trained by the time she came to us and we never had any toilet problems with her.
Three particular stories come to mind when I think of how special Vina was.
Our Aspin as Puzzle Solver (a.k.a. Chicken Thief)
One day, everyone in the household was going out so Vina had to be left alone inside the house for a few hours. We had a box of just-cooked fried chicken that we were meaning to eat later that day. We thought that if we left it right in the middle of our round, 6-seater dining table, surrounded by pushed-in high-backed chairs, Vina wouldn’t be able to get to it. When we got home, lo and behold, all we found was an empty box! No crumbs, no pieces of chicken, no bones! And the dining chairs weren’t scattered nor scratched! I worried that she might have hurt herself by eating chicken bones, but I guess she didn’t because she was all good. And quite a neat thief too.
Our Aspin as Jump Scare Giver
One night, my husband woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. The room was still in darkness when he got back into bed, so he didn’t notice anything different. Suddenly, he bolted upright as realized there was something black and hairy lying right next to him! It took him a few seconds to figure out that it was our clever, sneaky Vina! She normally slept on her mat on the floor but that time she decided to sneak into our bed as soon as she found an opportunity.
Our Aspin as Loving Family Member
A few months after we adopted her, Vina unfortunately fell ill with ehrlichiosis and needed to be confined at a veterinary clinic. During our visits, my family and I would sit on the floor with her as she was too weak to walk. On one of those visits, as we were getting ready to leave, Vina suddenly got up on all fours and slowly tried to walk out with us (she couldn’t get far with her IV drip attached). It broke my heart to see that gesture because it showed just how badly she wanted to come with us. Our baby girl wanted to be back home with her family. But she wasn’t able to. She soon died of complications and we had our beloved Vina cremated so she could finally come home.
We had our beloved aspin Vina for a few months, but those precious months gave all of us so much joy. Vina wasn’t a purebred, didn’t have pedigree, but she had so much love to give and beauty to show. She was loyal, affectionate, and smart. She was literally a poster dog for an animal welfare organization, but she could easily have been a poster dog for all aspins. She showed everyone how an aspin or any native or mongrel dog is as beautiful and as worthy of care and respect as any purebred.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) declared 18 August 2021 as the first National Aspin Day. PAWS has been working hard to erase the stigma against these native dogs.
Anna Cabrera, PAWS Executive Director
PAWS coined the term aspin to replace the more common term askal, which is short for asong kalye or street dog.
Ana G. Kalaw, ‘Askal is out, Aspin is in,’ philstar.com, August 2007
Last Updated on April 24, 2022 by lea