Thirteen rescued animals were scheduled to fly to Seattle in the US yesterday as part of a cross-ocean adoption program, the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan (ARTT) said.
The 13 dogs and cats rescued in southern Taiwan’s Liouciou Township (琉球) were to be flown to the US to seek new homes, despite the recent rabies outbreak on the island, said Antony Ni (倪京台), a volunteer in charge of foreign adoptions at ARTT.
The stray animals were only required to be vaccinated and undergo health examinations before entering the US, as there have been no rabies cases reported among cats or dogs in Taiwan so far, Ni said.
However, the outbreak has affected domestic adoptions. Because of the outbreak, fewer Taiwanese are willing to take on new pets and more pet owners have abandoned their dogs and cats, Ni said.
Animal catchers have received a higher number of reports about stray animals since last month when rabies cases were confirmed, the volunteer added.
Ni expressed gratitude to animal welfare groups in the US for helping the group of animals find new homes there.
According to the Central Epidemic Command Center for rabies yesterday, four more cases of rabies infection in ferret-badgers have been confirmed on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed animal rabies infections to 88.
As of Friday, 356 wildlife carnivore samples have been sent for rabies testing, 87 of which, all of them Formosan ferret-badgers, have tested positive for rabies.
All but one of the cases in 42 townships across nine counties and cities involved Formosan ferret-badgers.
Taitung reported a rabid Asian house shrew late last month.
The centers added that the health authorities of both Tainan City and Pingtung County, where new cases were found, have been and will continue putting efforts into immunizing the cats and dogs in the mountains, where interaction with wild animals are more likely to take place.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS