Animal rights groups yesterday spoke against the religious practice of setting animals free, saying that it leads to ecological destruction and is a form of animal abuse.
According to a recent study, in some Buddhist and Taoist traditions, setting animals free can bring gains in personal karma and result in miraculous healing for believers.
At a press conference held by the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan, academics and a government authority expressed their positions on the issue of setting animals free for religious purposes.
According to research conducted by the two groups between March last year and August, out of 2,544 religious groups interviewed on the matter, only about a quarter practiced animal releasing.
"Nevertheless, the huge number of animals thrown into the wrong habitats by [these] religious groups results in the destruction of the environment and the lives of the animals. An example of the consequences of random animal displacement is the competition between the displaced animals and the animals that already live in that particular habitat, which may lead to a lack of food," said Liu Hsiao-ru (劉小如), a research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Zoology.
"Freeing animals should be done only when the animals are caught in hazardous situations that put their lives at risk, but due to the high market demand for releasing animals for religious purposes, animals are bred, caught, and bought and sold for commercial purposes," said the society's director Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏).
According to a documentary video shown by the society, huge numbers of snakes, turtles, birds and fish have been dumped into rivers, seas, parks and even golf courses.
"Some of the animal release activities are even carried out by Taiwanese religious groups traveling abroad. Their doing so has alarmed local authorities since random displacement of animals is illegal in most countries," Chen said.
One government authority speculated that such animal release activities provided commercial benefits to both animal vendors and religious groups.
"It is reasonable to assume that reciprocal benefits could be found between vendors and religious groups [which resell animals to believers who wish to release animals]," said Andrew Wang (王忠恕), an official from the Council of Agriculture's Animal Industry Department.
However, Wang also stated that as the subject matter involves cultural, religious and legal issues, the council considered the issue rather touchy.
"This matter involves traditional practices and therefore is very difficult to tackle. The government should first find a consensus among religious groups on whether this animal releasing practice is agreeable. However, the council will continue to educate people about the importance of animal conservation," Wang said.
Li Ken-cheng (李根政), director of the ecological education center of the National Teachers' Association suggested a different perspective for the religious groups which practice animal release.
"These believers should reflect on their religious principles and whether the claim of freeing animals can justify their wrongdoing and the insensitivity to the suffering of these animals that results. Instead of randomly freeing animals, they should be active in animal conservation to back up the claim that they believe this is done for a good purpose," Li said.
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