"They were brought to the shops just 10 days old," the pig pen owner was quoted as saying on local TV news.
Dirty business
"Taiwan's pet shops and pet breeding businesses are not functioning healthily. Also, self-discipline is lacking among proprietors," said Hank Lee (
"This is why we occasionally see a dog trend followed about six months later by a wave of abandoned dogs. The dogs are either discarded on the streets or sent to stray dog shelters, staying for a few days before being put down," Lee said.
In Taipei City, for example, there are hundreds of pet shops selling and breeding dogs, but, according to the government's own statistics, there are only 50 licenses issued by the Taipei Municipal Institute of Animal Health (
In Europe, Lee said, dog breeders regulate themselves by restricting dogs younger than 1 year old from breeding and limit a bitch to one litter per year.
Such agreements are non-existent in Taiwan.
At the Taipei Animal Shelter (台北市動物之家), 9,000 to 10,000 dogs annually pass through the shelter, which accommodates only 320.
Seventy percent of the dogs are taken off the streets. Once in the shelter, a dog stays an average of 10 days to two weeks, waiting to be adopted. If a dog is not adopted, it will be euthanized.
"We usually let a dog stay longer if it is in good condition. Public shelters in other counties and cities usually let dogs stay from three to seven days," said a veterinarian surnamed Lu working at the shelter.
About 40 percent of the 9,000 dogs in the shelter are adopted, representing the highest adoption rate among public shelters in Taiwan.
Blind to the issue
According to Lu, the shelter hasn't had any Labradors yet, but they are expected to arrive. "In the past we had a few dalmatians and we have had quite a few beagles a few months after the trend for those dogs passed," he said.
Ironically, despite the popularity of the film Quill, the issue of guide dogs for the blind is rarely raised and widely neglected by the public.
With 50,000 visually-challenged people in Taiwan, there are only eight blind-serving guide dogs, according to the Taiwan Guide Dog Association (台灣導盲犬協會). There is also a lack of training professionals and schools. There are only two qualified guide-dog trainers in Taiwan, according to the association.
The Taiwan Guide Dog Association is now calling for volunteer families to be host families for guide dogs. Volunteers are required to take care of the dog for a year, after which time the dog will be taken to guide-dog training centers.
"Perhaps the best way to express love to a Labrador dog is not to keep them as pets, but to help them to become more valuable for human beings," said Hank Lee from Life Conservationist Association.
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