Animal rights group Life Conservationist Association (LCA) yesterday urged the Council of Agriculture (COA) to aim to ultimately reduce the percentage of animals put to death in public animal shelters to zero.
The group accused the council of being too conservative on its goals for improving public animal shelters between this year and 2018, which were approved last year.
LCA executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said the council set the goal of reducing the proportion of animals put to death at shelters to 50 percent, but this goal was almost reached in 2012, when the figure was 50.07 percent.
Ho said the plan also set a goal of reducing the euthanasia rate by about 3 percent each year, aiming to reach an average of 37 percent by 2018. However, statistics for 2008 to 2012 showed the reduction rate was already about 5.11 percent each year, so the council’s new goals were unambitious, Ho said.
He also suggested that the government set the ultimate goal of achieving no euthanasia for cats and dogs at public animal shelters, and set more challenging goals each year — such as using the average rate of euthanasia at the local shelters with the lowest rates last year as its goal for the overall average rate this year.
LCA member and retired government official Wang Wei-chi (王唯治) said that as the Executive Yuan will ask all departments to set key performance indicators for themselves, the group urged the council to include animal protection performance among key indicators, rather than focusing only on agricultural production.
Ho said the group also urges the government to improve adoption mechanisms at public shelters, as well as supervising existing private shelters.
Taipei Veterinary Medical Association president Simon Yang (楊靜宇) said that sometimes stray dogs are put to death because the shelters are negligent in scanning for microchips, and suggested that puppies should be kept apart from other animals because the adoption rate for them is usually higher.
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
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
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
RSS