A woman has been reported to the authorities for animal abuse after she was found to have inserted her cat into a plastic bottle as punishment, a local official said yesterday.
The woman, surnamed Lin (林), who attends a university in Greater Taichung, was heavily criticized by Facebook users after she posted two photos of a white cat in a plastic bottle on Monday and wrote “cat in a bottle, punishment for behaving badly.”
She later deleted the post.
Photo: CNA
“I did not want to put my pet cats inside metal cages. Instead I put them inside plastic containers, so that they can be carried around with me. This way the cats can see the world through the transparent plastic,” she wrote, admitting what she did was wrong.
However, the incident caught the attention of the city government’s Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office, which reported the case to prosecutors for criminal investigation.
Office head Yu Chien-chung (余建中) said yesterday that the student had violated the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法).
Photo: CNA
If the court finds her guilty, Lin could be punished with a maximum sentence of one year, or a maximum fine of NT$ 30,000 (US$ 1,000) if the sentence is commuted.
Later yesterday, Lin said she did not abuse her cats, saying she loves them very much.
She added that they sleep with her, have their own set of pillows and blankets, and that she named one of them using her own nickname, “Kiki.”
She refused to apologize, adding she was kidding when she wrote “punishment” on Facebook.
Lin said the plastic containers were punched with air holes, and that she was simply trying them out as a way for her to transport her cats when traveling.
She did not try it again after realizing the method did not work well, she added.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He