As the economy continues to slump, more and more pets are finding themselves on the street, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, calling on pet owners to act responsibly when dealing with animals’ lives.
Those who intentionally dump their animals are subject to fines up to NT$75,000, the council said.
“Recently we have heard of more pet abandonment than usual, where owners dump their pets in front of pet shops, animal hospitals or outdoors. We urge people to respect lives as this will not only contribute to strays or pose problems with public safety and environmental hygiene, but also violate the law,” Department of Animal Industry Director Hsu Tien-lai (許天來) said.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
Once pets become strays, they are often collected by local environmental bureaus and placed in animal shelters. However, volunteer Paul Liu (劉柏良) at the Taipei Animal shelter in Neihu said their prospects were not optimal, as adoption rates were dropping.
“People are having a hard time taking care of themselves, so they are less likely to contemplate adopting pets,” Liu said.
“Before, dogs in better condition, even the mixes, would get adopted quite easily, but in the last year adoption rates have dropped noticeably. Now it seems the shelter is half occupied by pure breeds [because of a trend to buy a certain breed of dogs as a result of movie or celebrity influence],” said Liu, who had been volunteering at the shelter for three-and-a-half years.
“More dogs are being put down,” he said, adding that even the ones kept alive had a poor quality of life because “the number of dogs is simply too high … they overwhelm the volunteers and the staff.”
Asked how to solve the problem, Liu said it had to be stopped at the source.
“People should not act on impulse and buy or adopt a pet because they’re cute, while the government should educate people on animal protection,” Liu said, adding that people should not be fixated on getting pure breeds or adopt a dog at the shelter as a way of saving money.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
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