(Rudolph "Rudy" the Deer)
Here is an update to our dear readers about the issue of Rudolph "Rudy" the Deer who remains confined at the East Avenue Medical Center. First the good news: Dr. Roland L. Cortez, the Medical Director of EAMC admitted in a letter to the Diliman Diary (see the letter embedded below) that Rudolph the deer was donated to him in order "to be butchered." However, Dr. Cortez stressed that rather than undertake the suggestion of the donor, he asked his Orthopedic Department to nurse "Rudy" back to good health as he was brought in with injured legs and that "Rudy" is now being fed regularly.
Dr. Cortez also criticized the Diliman Diary for "micromanaging" the issue of one deer and said that we should look further into the bigger picture of the trafficking of endangered species in Metro Manila. We will in fact take up Dr. Cortez's excellent suggestion on behalf of the readers of the Diliman Diary who are intelligent, educated and tend to be interested in issues, including environmental concerns. We are working on this story as even we write this.
(Response of Dr. Cortez of EAMC
to the letter of the Diliman Diary.
To enlarge the graphic, just click on it)
But we still take issue with the fate of even one deer; and so back to Rudolph "Rudy" the Deer and this not-so-great-news: Dr. Cortez stressed that as a government official, he is quick to respect any and all laws and is not violating any existing laws because the animal was not harmed. He also did not respond to our suggestion that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) take "Rudy" off his hands. While we agree with the Doctor's point that no laws were transgressed, the Diliman Diary nevertheless feels that a hospital compound is not exactly the ideal place where a wild animal who was born to roam free should be situated. We are still hoping that Dr. Cortez can be persuaded to give up such a beautiful animal as Rudolph "Rudy" the Deer to PAWS which has offered him refuge at its facilities as it looks for a more permanent animal sanctuary where he can live out his life as it was meant to be: Free and Wild.
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