For three days, the nation's eyes were riveted on an unremarkable black street dog. As the TV cameras looked on, the dog nimbly evaded capture while traffic whizzed by her at more than 100kph.
The dog, dubbed Er-ling-jiu, or "209," because of the kilometer marker she lived near, is said to have lived on the freeway divider on a stretch of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway near Changhua for around two years, when the cable network TVBS made her household news. She quickly became the most famous stray in the country as other media followed suit.
However, 209's existence was no secret to the highway department and local commuters. According to TVBS, the freeway bureau had received more than 50 calls about the dog, although the wily canine managed to evade numerous attempts at capture, including baited cages, chases along the shoulder of the road, and bizarrely, an attempt to lure 209 with a bitch in heat
PHOTO: LIN YA-LI, TAIPEI TIMES
But 209's life on the road finally ended when the Kaohsiung Concern Stray Animal Association (KCSAA) formed a team of volunteer dog catchers, who after an exhausting six-hour test of wills, brought her down with an anesthetic blow dart.
"When I heard about 209's story, I knew we had to help her," said Wang Chun-ching (王春經), the director of KCSAA. "It was no life for a dog, and she was a constant danger to herself and others."
According to Wang, the team thought long and hard before putting the plan into action, including a decision not to inform the highway bureau of their intentions.
"We knew that the rescue would take a long time," Wang said. "We decided to act alone."
Although 209 was safely nabbed, Chen Han-yang (
Chen had only became aware of 209's plight shortly before the media storm broke and had been attempting to capture her with baited cages, to no avail.
"We considered blow darts too, but decided that it would be too risky to dart an animal on a highway," Chen said. "Blow darts can take minutes to work. In that time the startled animal could have run onto the highway and caused an accident."
"We took that into account," Wang said.
"We knew that 209 was a very clever dog who could never be caught with baited traps. She had lived on the highway for so long, she was too smart to run into traffic," she said.
Nevertheless, KCSAA's rescue effort could cost the group a fine of between NT$3,000 to NT$6,000.
"We're okay with that. We know we broke the rules," Wang said. "There was no other way."
Wang is scheduled to meet with freeway bureau officials today to discuss the issue.
"Yes, it was against the rules, but they did it out of love for the dog," Chen said. "Maybe that will be taken into consideration."
According to Wang, 209 is very healthy, although skittish around people, other dogs -- and traffic. Now the group has to find a home for her.
"We've had more than 100 calls from people asking to adopt 209. We've even had five or six who claimed to be 209's former owners," Wang said. "You really have to wonder about those people's motives. Do they really want to help her, or do they just want a celebrity dog?"
Wang said she will keep 209 for another month to give the her more time to adjust to a non-freeway life while a new home is chosen for the now famous canine.
But it is not just 209 who needs a new home.
"Our association has more than 300 strays in our shelters," Wang said. "They are equally deserving of good homes."
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS