The suspected suicide of a veterinarian by animal euthanasia drugs has prompted authorities to reconsider an animal euthanasia policy, officials said yesterday, offering condolences and reaffirming a zero animal euthanasia policy that is expected to be implemented next year.
Chien Chih-cheng (簡稚澄), the director of an animal shelter in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋), allegedly committed suicide using animal euthanasia drugs on May 5.
The news of her death only became public on Friday last week, triggering a wave of condolence messages online, along with messages of concern for stray animals.
Chien allegedly left a note saying that while she was a passionate animal lover, she was extremely disturbed by having to euthanize animals and took her own life as a message that “all lives are equal” in the hope that the government would put more effort into managing stray animals.
Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) said Chien was under immense stress due to misinformed criticism directed at her and the shelter.
“Some animal welfare activists have unleashed relentless attacks on the Sinwu shelter and Chien was a target of those attacks. She was even described as a ‘butcher.’ For a young woman who chose to work at the shelter because of her love for animals and whose duties involved euthanizing stray animals every day, those abuses were like stabs to the heart,” Wang wrote on Facebook.
The “zero euthanasia” policy — which is planned for implementation next year — is likely to exhaust animal shelters with limited capacity and resources, as pet abandonment rates and stray animal reproduction rates have yet to be substantially reduced, veterinarian Kung Chien-chia (龔建嘉) said.
“Zero euthanasia is a false policy if there are no supportive measures to reduce pet abandonment rates to zero. Shelters have limited spaces, personnel and resources, but the number of admitted animals will keep increasing. The false policy — which the government created for better publicity regardless of an animal’s situation — will cause more pain to animals,” Kung said.
The Council of Agriculture yesterday expressed regret over Chien’s death, with council minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) offering condolences to the Chien family.
The council said it understood the plight of animal shelters and would seek improvements.
Following an amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) in February, 33 public animal shelters will have to stop euthanizing animals in February next year, which could overload shelters. The government plans to invest NT$190 million (US$5.8 million) in increasing shelter capacity and improving animal protection by 2018, the council said.
The stray animal adoption rate has increased from 28.7 percent in 2012 to 70.4 percent, with 550,000 animals adopted last year, while shelter animal euthanasia rates were reduced from 50.1 percent in 2012 to 12 percent last year, the council said, adding that the government and the public need to work together to face the challenge of stray animal management.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the