Carmi Martin calls for justice for pet owners’ dogs who died at training facility

Carmi Martin. Image: Instagram/@misscarmi_; Facebook/Carmi Martin

Updated: May 20, 2025, 1:00 p.m.

Carmi Martin appealed for justice for her fellow fur parents’ dogs who “looked like they were killed and battered” while under the care of a training facility.

The actress lamented the deaths of sibling poodles Donki and Guanciale, sharing the statement of a pet owner named Sandy via the former’s Facebook page on Monday, May 19.

“Sorry for the confusion. These are not my dogs. I’m sharing this to help seek justice for what happened to them. As a dog lover myself and a fur mom to three adorable Abebes, I can’t even imagine how I would react if something like this happened to them. Let’s speak up for those who can’t,” she said in her updated post on Tuesday.

In quoting Sandy, Martin said the dogs died while under the case of a training facility, Winsol, short for Win Solution Dog Training Services which was based in Marikina but has a training facility in Laguna.

“Last Monday, May 12, 2025, our beloved poodle died under the care of Alvin Labarias, also known as ‘Winsol,’ from Win Solution Dog Training Services. We had seven dogs with them for obedience training. Two dogs were ours and five were my SIL’s (sister-in-law),” Sandy said in her post.

READ: Carla Abellana calls for change in mindset after death of Killua

Sandy said she earlier asked Labarias if she could have two of their dogs back but that the latter told her that they still needed two more weeks. She just then thought that their pets might still be undergoing training.

However, she felt something was off when Labarias suddenly came to their village on Thursday, May 15, asking to personally talk to her.

“When he got to my house, he explained to me and my husband that Donki has been dead since last Monday, May 12, along with one of my SIL’s dogs whose name was Guanciale,” she said.

“He claimed that both died from heat stroke. And that they buried them right away without even telling us—without our consent. My husband and I were both in shock upon hearing all of this,” she continued.

Sandy said their family decided to take matters upon themselves and discovered further details on their pets’ demise.

“[We] found out that our dead dogs looked like they were killed and battered because photos of them showed blood on their heads. One of them didn’t even have a head anymore,” she said. “And I found out that our beloved dog was put in a sack without proper burial.”

Sandy also stressed how Labarias even offered to compensate for the death of their pets by giving them a new dog.

“As I write this I cannot help but think that only a monster can do something like this. This is animal abuse. This is cruelty. This is a crime,” she wrote, adding that the facility should not be allowed to continue its operations. “They don’t care about our dogs they only care about making money. They need to close down.”

Concluding her post, Sandy appealed to her followers, “Let people know. Help us stop this. We are heartbroken. And we will fight for justice.”

READ: Ignoring animal cruelty, neglect will lead to more severe abuses, says Poe

Charges to be filed

Meanwhile, INQUIRER.net also reached out to Sandy, and she said that they are poised to file charges against the training facility, with the help of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a nonprofit nongovernmental organization advocating animal welfare and protection.

“The main goal of our post was to raise awareness na ganito pala nangyayari sa training facility na ito… we never got to see our dogs. We were able to talk to one of the heads of PAWS and we had a group chat with them, and they are helping us out with the legal aspects against the facility and Alvin. Kase nga we really want to file a case against them,” she said.

INQUIRER.net also reached out to the management of the dog training facility regarding the matter, but has yet to receive a response as of this writing. /ra/edv