History of IWCT

In the beginning

The International Wildlife Coalition Trust, IWCT, was founded in 1992 to promote Whale and Elephant conservation. In 1998, we learnt about the unspeakable cruelty and brutality of the dog meat trade in the Philippines and as a result we began a campaign to tackle the appalling trading and slaughter of dogs for meat. 

Making an Impact as a Philippines Charity

IWCT has now been working as a Philippines charity for nearly 25 years. A fundamental part of our efforts in the early years was working with government and law enforcement to bring an end to the barbaric dog meat trade in the Philippines and we played a crucial role in pushing through animal welfare legislation which now means it is illegal to slaughter dogs for human consumption in the Philippines. 

Spay and Neuter Programme and other campaigns

Having seen a significant reduction in the slaughter and trading of dogs for meat, the country experienced a rise in their stray dog population and with Rabies still being a prevalent disease in south east Asia, neutering and vaccinating dogs became a focus for us. As a result much of our work over the last 7 years has been to help control that growing population of dogs, via our mobile veterinary services. This includes a spay and neuter and rabies vaccination programme for dogs owned by people who simply can’t afford expensive veterinary treatment.   

We are also working incredibly hard to change the culture and the way in which animals, and in particular dogs, are treated and cared for in the Philippines, via our Education Programme.   

In 2018 we opened a small Treatment Centre in Tarlac, two hours north of Manila, and an area within which much of our Veterinary team is based. Having seen the demand for dogs to be rescued and rehabilitated, we realised the need for additional space, and so in 2021 we purchased a piece of land close to the existing Centre and undertook a build project to create a fully functioning veterinary clinic and kennels for rescue and rehabilitation of dogs. 

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