An animal rescue group on Thursday accused National Beigang Senior High School of setting a bad example for its students by calling for all stray dogs to be rounded up indiscriminately, regardless of their behavior.
According to its Facebook post, the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan received complaints from several of the school’s faculty members and students claiming that the dean, Tsai Mang-feng (蔡孟峰), had announced during a flag-raising ceremony on Jan. 7 that people should not feed stray dogs and that the school had asked the Yunlin County Government’s animal disease control center to help it round up stray dogs on school grounds.
The post also said that the school was indiscriminate in rounding up the animals and had even removed and was preparing to euthanize a dog nicknamed “Coffee” (咖啡), that many in the school cared about.
The school, in particular the dean’s office, was bombarded with messages from dog lovers and netizens calling for the school to overturn its decision, but Tsai said that the announcement had been made following numerous reports of students and faculty members being chased by stray dogs over the past two weeks.
Tsai said the school acted on the recommendation of its faculty and also in response to recent reports of a young boy who was mauled by stray dogs and had to receive about 100 stitches.
Tsai added that the decision had been made because stray dogs had also attacked multiple staff members and students.
Tsai said that ideally, stray dogs on the school’s premises would have been rounded up before Jan. 9, but that currently only one had been caught and put up for adoption.
The school does not intend to round up all stray dogs, only those that are aggressive and attack or chase people, Tsai said, adding that Coffee was still on the school grounds.
As for the dog that has been caught, if the school decides that the dog is not aggressive, it will allow its faculty staff to adopt it to spare it from the fate of being put down, Tsai said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19