Cruelty to animals hurts everyone

After donating NT$15 billion (US$460 million) to National Taiwan University for cancer research, Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) recently donated another NT$200 million to solve the problem of stray dogs by implanting chips in the animals and neutering them.

Gou is happy to make large donations. This clearly makes people deeply grateful to the tycoon.

But although there is no doubt that Gou's support for noble causes is admirable, it should not be an excuse for the government to take its responsibilities any less seriously.

In the early morning of Aug. 16, a cruel case of dog abuse occurred in Sinjhuang (新莊), Taipei County. A small black dog had been skinned alive after someone cut its skin open from neck to tail.

Its flesh dripping with blood, the little dog was then dumped in the middle of the road in a traditional market.

"Skinned little Blackie," as it was called, was moaning and moving about, and struggled for its life, but died in agony two hours later. When it died, the doubt and terror it felt could be seen in its eyes.

What kind of person could torture a little dog to death? The death of "skinned little Blackie" greatly upset animal protection groups. They jointly filed a lawsuit at the Banciao District Prosecutor's Office.

I don't know how the court case is going, but the result is predictable. It will be just like the case of the man who abused kittens and put photos of it online. Animal protection groups despair at the indifference of the law, and in this case, as in other cases, they can expect to gain nothing.

Although the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) stipulates that: "An animal shall not be abandoned," "No one is allowed to harass, maltreat or hurt an animal out of malice or without reason," and "No one shall be allowed to kill an animal at will," the punishment for violating these rules are merely fines, and there is no criminal liability.

Worse, there is no agency responsible for the enforcement of this law.

The police already have many difficult tasks to deal with and don't have the necessary skills to take on the enforcement of this law. It can hardly be expected to make the protection of animals its highest priority. Hence, the rules laid down in the Animal Protection Act are only ink on paper and hardly have a deterrent effect.

Such a legal environment amply proves that animals are seen as objects, with no more rights than things or capital. That is the reason why abusing or killing an animal at most constitutes the destruction of goods, and is only considered an offense if the animal's owner reports the case.

There is no practical basis for bystanders to act when they witness abuse. And for stray animals that are abused or killed, it's like there is no law or government in the world.

In the news, we see reports of dogs with large open wounds because they were tied with rubber bands; cats shot with a crossbow; and birds shot at with steel balls. The images of these animals' suffering elicit a strong j'accuse against these barbaric acts.

The public needs to take a good look at its system of values.

Cruelty is an offense in and of itself. If we get used to cruelty and turn a blind eye to it, this is not only an example of the nature of individuals becoming more grim, it represents the degeneration of society as a whole. Perhaps there are others who feel the same way as I do.