The island of Cebu alone is brimming with the abundance of wildlife.
There are thousands of unidentified species crawling on the enclave that most of us are not even aware of. But it hasn’t stopped a few from putting their foot out of the border to venture into the bizarre world of beasts.
Born in a family of animal-loving individuals, it was quite perceivable for Alain Phillip Sih to acquire the trait of appreciating zoological entity. It all started with their parents who were already keeping fish before Alain and his siblings were conceived. The moment all five children arrived into this world though, their parents had to put the fishkeeping on hold to concentrate on raising a new set of critters – their kids.
It didn’t take a while for the little ones to catch onto their pre-determined passion. In the year 1989, the Sih’s offsprings resulted to catching live guppies in the canals – during a time when they were still clean, of course – for fun. They put them in tubs; which resulted to a jealous neighbour pouring a deadly amount of soap on the poor guppies. Alain’s mother brought her aggrieved children to a pet shop to buy them their very own school of fish. The world does have a sick sense of humour sometimes, as this misfortune triggered the family’s yearning for animal company that will shortly become a favorable circumstance. Two years later, the family had constructed ponds, aquariums, adopted dogs and welcomed possibly any living creature in the kingdom Animalia. Even when the family travelled, they brought in animals from different places.
Around the year 1998, the family had acquired some invertebrates; specifically in the class Arachnids, family Theraphosidae. To put it simply, I’m talking about tarantulas in a more profound manner to avoid making some of you squirm before you even get to finish reading this article. Their first eight-legged wonder was a Theraphosa blondi, or more commonly known as a Goliath Bird-eater. It is recognized to be the largest spider in the world that, unfortunately, did not last more than eight months in their care. During a time when boundless information from the internet wasn’t as easy to obtain unlike today, Alain and his siblings were oblivious of the moulting process a tarantula goes through in its lifetime. The moment the spider laid on its back, they declared its case ill-fated. So they went on to move the little thing around, unknowingly and eventually, leading it further into its own demise. This was certainly a charge to experience that will later be considered as a lesson for Alain and his siblings on the application of proper husbandry on each and every animal under their care.
During the Christmas holidays of 1996, they had too many fishes to care for and no time to clean up the ponds that their mother had to tell her kids to sell some of their scaly friends. They sold it on the sidewalks of downtown Cebu, right outside their father’s shop. The fishes were individually placed in sterilized mayonnaise jars. The small venture went so undoubtedly well, that their mother decided to make it into a tiny business. At home, they expanded their stocks and built more aquariums. Later on, they decided to add in pet accessories into their shop.
It was March in the year 2007; the first official Piper’s Petshop in Banilad was born. After years of success, it gave birth to a much bigger branch located in St. Patrick’s Square, near Redemptorist church.
Alain dreams that one day they’ll have more space to execute their aspirations, in view of the fact that the second branch they have right now isn’t big enough. His love for animals and the hobby that comes along with it is quite intense. He says that he might take a break from it once in a while, but he knows that he will always find a way back into fauna. Inspired by childhood dreams, he envisions a pet shop where there are petting areas and close-to-home habitats for the specific animals under their care. He wants to serve Cebu and her neighbouring cities by pulling up the pet industry to another level through complete care products for a wide variety of wildlife. Not only that, Alain has a local group called the Bacolod Exotic Keepers that focus on breeding animals in an environment that is close to their home. They have their own farm, to put it simply.
One of his many challenges is veterinarians. He slowly expresses his concern, clouded by a slight bit of frustration, that not a lot vets in the city specialize in reptiles or other unpopular animal that are being kept by the people on this island. Finding one is equivalent to coming across a diamond in a public park. Alain results to conducting endless amounts of research, relied on himself and his knowledge to self-medicate the animals under his care; which evidently worked on most cases.
“Pets aren’t just a hobby. They’re part of your life – your family,” said Alain.
If you’re looking for a pet shop that knows what it’s doing, and can give you sufficient information regarding the husbandry of the animal you are purchasing, you don’t really have to look too far. Supporting the right company that enables you to keep the animals you love from harm’s way speaks volumes of the direction our local wildlife is heading.
Piper’s Petshop recently earned a Certificate of Recognition from the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Region VII for their efforts in the protection, conservation and propagation of wildlife resources in Central Visayas.
Fun Fact: Alain has over twenty-five ball pythons, not including the ones that are housed in the shop. And his family had over forty small dogs at one point in time.