The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday announced plans to release its first animal welfare white paper next year and reduce the use of animals in scientific research, as an animal protection fair was held on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
It was the first large animal protection event staged on the boulevard, and the 150 stalls were organized by the six special municipalities’ animal protection agencies, veterinarians’ associations and civic groups from across the nation, the council said.
Many pets and their owners visited the Taipei Veterinary Medical Association’s stall, where volunteers were offering free health checks, blood tests, rabies vaccinations and microchip implants, association chairman Chang Chen-tung (張振東) said.
Photo: CNA
Such services could cost NT$3,000 or NT$4,000 if performed at veterinarian clinics, he said.
The council’s white paper is aimed at raising awareness about animal protection, COA Secretary-General Chang Chih-sheng (張致盛) said, adding that it would also continue to work on improving the conditions at public animal shelters.
One more meeting with experts would be held this month to finalize the paper before it is published online, COA Animal Protection section chief Jiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said.
Photo: CNA
The paper would address issues related to companion animals and animals used for economic and laboratory purposes, and propose plans to set up a replacement, reduction and refinement promotion center, he said.
To encourage a reduction in the use of animals as test subjects in the biomedical industry, the council is to propose a cross-agency research project to develop alternative techniques, he said.
The project is expected to begin in 2020 and would include officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Environmental Protection Administration and the National Laboratory Animal Center, but must first pass a review by the Executive Yuan’s Board of Science and Technology, Jiang said.
The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) was promoting cage-free eggs at the fair, and EAST chief executive Shih Wu-hung (釋悟泓) said nearly 40 egg suppliers have joined the Cage Free Alliance it helped initiate last year.
Membership is expected to exceed 100 next year, Shih said.
More egg suppliers, especially younger farmers, recognize the problems created by battery-cage egg production and the commercial potential for cage-free eggs, especially after Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福) began promoting such eggs this year, Shih said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS