Each year many animals in the country are killed or injured by dangerous gin traps that can be easily bought at hardware stores, a legislator and animal rights groups said yesterday as they called on the government to ban the traps.
“Gin traps are the No. 1 killer of animals in Taiwan,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said at a news conference held with representatives from several animal rights and protection groups.
They said vegetable farmers or livestock breeders use gin traps — a metal clip with sharp teeth — to prevent stray animals, mostly dogs and cats, from eating their harvests or flocks.
PHOTO: CNA
However, the devices can harm the animals badly or cause them to bleed to death after being left in the trap, said Lin Ya-che (林雅哲), a veterinarian who also serves as a volunteer for the Life Conservationist Association.
Although the use of the devices is banned, people can easily purchase them at hardware stores because the law does not ban their manufacture and sale, Ting said, citing a local academic who estimated that there are around 3 million of the traps around the country.
The traps, which cost between NT$35 and NT$50 each, can be found in national parks, putting endangered animals and people who stray from hiking trails at risk, he said.
Lin said that the National Police Agency should consider gin traps as weapons to restrict them from being manufactured or traded in the country.
“Gin traps are like landmines that can harm anyone who steps on them unexpectedly,” Lin said.
In response, Forestry Bureau Deputy Director General Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生) said that under the existing law, people who trap unprotected animals with gin traps face a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000. If they harm a protected animal such as a Formosan black bear, they will be punished with between six months and five years imprisonment, along with a fine of between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million (US$30,600), Lee said.
He said that more effort would be made to crack down on the use of the traps in forests, including reinforcing patrols in the woods, but he said that it is difficult to catch the people who set the traps.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS