Askal
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| Askal | |||||||
 A Philippine mongrel |
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| Country of origin | Philippines | ||||||
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An askal is a mixed-breed (mongrel) dog in the Philippines. The name is a Tagalog-derived contraction of asong kalye (street dog). It is applied to mongrels due to their often stray nature. These dogs are often more resilient than pure-bred ones.[1]
In Cebuano, mongrel dogs are called irong Bisaya, which literally means a native dog.[2]
To counter perceived political incorrectness, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has suggested the alternative term Aspin, short for asong Pinoy (Pinoy dog).[3]
These dogs are now being considered for training as bomb-sniffing dogs as pure-bred dogs of the Philippine K9 units are becoming too old to work and too expensive to maintain.[4]
"Azkals" is also the nickname of the Philippines national football team.
[edit] References
- ^ Tan, Michael. Askal. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
- ^ See this Cebuano news item for an example of its usage: Irong ‘bisaya’ magamit sa bomb sniffing. GMA News.TV. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ Honasan, Alya. "‘Hey, pare, let’s save the whales’", Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2007-07-22. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ S. Allada, Anthony. "Police welcome move to train "askal"", Mindanao Times, 2007-06-29. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
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