An animal activist yesterday said that animal traps were still common in mountainous areas of Taipei City, posing a danger not only to animals, but also to humans, and urged the Taipei City Government to classify animal traps as dangerous weapons and ban their use in the city limits.
Faye Angevine condemned the city government for giving the appearance of promoting animal protection while ignoring the long-existing threat of animal traps.
Two of the more than 10 stray dogs she has adopted have lost one of their legs after they were caught in foothold traps, Angevine said.
She said that 70 percent of dogs caught in such traps lose a leg.
SERIOUS ISSUE
“What does it take for the government to take the issue seriously? When a child steps on a leg trap and gets hurt?” she asked yesterday at a press conference at Taipei City Hall.
Statistics from Animals Taiwan, a non-profit organization dedicated to animal rescue, show there were 141 reported animal injuries caused by foothold traps in Taipei between 2008 and last year.
The organization also found more than 50 animal traps in mountainous areas of Taipei City last year.
Information provided by the Taipei City Animal Protection Office, however, documents only 13 cases of animal injury since last year and no foothold trap finds.
MECHANISM
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤), who accompanied Angevine at the press conference, urged the city’s Animal Protection Office to establish a mechanism to cooperate with the police department and fire department to better handle animal rescues, while speeding up the establishment of regulations to ban the sale of animal traps.
“Animal traps are banned in many countries, and although Taipei City has used an administrative order to ban the sale of traps, leg traps can still be found at hardware stores,” she said.
BANNED
The Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) bans the use of traps for catching wild animals. Violators are subject to a fine of up to NT$300,000. However, the selling the traps is not prohibited.
Office director Yen I-feng (嚴一峰) said it would dispatch more patrols to mountainous areas to search for animal traps, while strengthening cooperation with the police department and fire department in animal rescue work.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS