Tamsui township's dogcatchers may be using steel-jaw traps to catch stray dogs, a government official confirmed yesterday.
"There is the possibility that these illegal traps have not been completely eliminated as a method of dog-catching outside of Taipei City," Cheng Chu-ching (鄭祝菁), a specialist at the Council of Agriculture's Animal Industry Department, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Using the traps to catch stray dogs was supposed to be stopped in 1998, but Cheng blamed "inadequate communication" between the department and Taipei County dog catching agencies for their continued use.
Though illegal, the traps are still being used, according to Tamsui resident Frank Weisskopf.
On Monday, Weisskopf, a six-year resident of the township, discovered a six month-old stray puppy with its leg caught in a trap while out walking his dogs.
"The poor thing was in such pain he was howling his head off," Weisskopf said yesterday.
"The teeth from the trap tore through its skin and broke its leg -- it was a bloody mess," he said.
Weisskopf managed to pry the jaws of the trap open with a metal bar only to watch the terrorized puppy run off. He said he kept the trap as evidence.
Government officials quickly condemned the use of the devices.
"These traps harm animals and were therefore made illegal under the 1998 Animal Protection Law (動物保護法)," said Cheng Chung-chiang (程中江), director general of the Animal Industry Department yesterday.
"More humane nets or cages must be used instead," Cheng said.
While the Animal Protection Law does not specify what methods should be used to round up strays, it does forbid the use of any method that is deemed inhumane.
Weisskopf said that in the last two years he has stumbled across three similar traps and suspects that they are being set by the Tamsui dog-catching authorities.
"Tamsui has a real problem with the escalating numbers of stray dogs. I think that the dogs are proving too hard to get into the cages they are supposed to use, so the dogcatchers have resorted to setting traps instead," Weisskopf said.
"I really don't know how these people can sleep at night," he said.
As of last year, Taipei City had a stray dog population of 11,859. Outlying areas like Tamsui, in Taipei County, are well known for their stray-dog problem.
Besides endangering animals, the devices also pose a threat to Tamsui's human population.
"At the same time they are an incredibly cruel and inhumane method of dog-catching, they also endanger human safety," Sakya Chuan-fa (釋傳法) said yesterday.
Sakya is the secretary-general of the Life Conservationist Association (關懷生命協會), an animal protection group.
"If placed in a public area, what is to stop a small child or even an adult from stepping in a trap? They are extremely dangerous," she said.
Weisskopf echoed her concern.
"I've seen lots of children playing in the field where I found the trap," he said.
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