Animal protection groups yesterday called on legislators to enact stricter regulations on animal reproduction centers, claiming that current regulations were "loose" and had failed to prevent breeders from abusing animals.
Early this month in Pingtung County, a dog breeding operation was discovered in which more than 100 dogs had been left in a locked house with no food or water.
Many dead dogs were also found at the premises, and were presumed to have been bitten to death by other dogs in the house.
Rescue operation
"People living near the reproduction center told us that many dead bodies were carried away before we got there [by the owners?]. I don't know exactly how many dogs died there," said Ker Tzu-hsiu (
Ker was one of the volunteers who went to the house to clean it and take canine survivors to vets after reports about the breeding operation broke on June 5.
Evidence
Ker showed several pictures taken at the facility.
"Look at this plastic bag," she said, pointing to one picture.
"I presume that inside the bag were the dead bodies of dogs as [I could see] the nails of a dog here [through the plastic bag]. And this, this dead golden retriever's nose, mouth and the soles of its feet were all gone," Ker said at a public hearing yesterday.
The public hearing was hosted by Democratic Progressive Party legislators Tien Chiu-chin (
President of the Taipei Pet Commerce Association Chen Ming-chih (陳明進) said that the Pingtung case was just a single event.
"I believe that most our members would like to be governed [by new laws] if the ... [they] are reasonable," Chen said.
New rules
However, representatives of animal protection groups didn't agree with Chen's interpretation.
Chu Tseng-hong (朱增宏), president of Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan, said similar cases were discovered from time to time.
"People who are found abusing animals or illegally running an animal reproduction business will be fined just NT$150,000 [US$4,600] at most. It's actually `nothing' to them," Chu said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai