An animal advocacy group yesterday called for a ban on steel snares, which they said hurt stray dogs, while an expert said that a ban could result in farmers using more inhumane alternatives such as poison.
Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals executive director Connie Chiang (姜怡如) said the group has found that monkeys and stray dogs were caught in steel snares, resulting in broken limbs or starvation.
Chiang cited a report by the Yilan County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center for the society’s findings.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Control center section chief Liu Pi-yang (劉必揚) said an inspection in 2015 found about 80 steel snares in the Paolun community (匏崙) in Jiaoxi Township (礁溪), adding that five stray dogs have been injured by snares since then.
“It is difficult to identify who is setting up the snares,” he said.
The society’s legal specialist, Chou Jing-fan (周敬凡), called for an official ban on the steel snares.
Article 19 of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) prohibits “the use of traps, snares or other hunting equipment” to capture animals, Chou said, adding that the act should be amended to explicitly ban steel snares.
“Any cruel device [for capturing animals] should be banned,” he added.
Protecting animals is everyone’s obligation, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said, adding that she supports the proposed ban.
“This has nothing to do with the conflict between Aborigines and Han people,” she added.
However, Savungaz Valincinan, a member of the Indigenous Youth Front, said advocates of the ban were criminalizing Aborigines.
She said that animal rights advocates should not frame the issue around “prohibition” and Aborigines’ accountability.
Many farmers, not only Aborigines, use snares to capture intruding animals, said Kurtis Jai-Chyi Pei (裴家騏), professor at National Dong Hwa University’s College of Environmental Studies.
Banning steel snares might be counterproductive because farmers would find alternatives like using poisons, he said, adding that stray animals and leopard cats are often injured by such methods.
People who want to capture animals should use more humanitarian means that are precise and cause no suffering to animals, he said.
“Traps are already banned, but many people are still using them,” he said. “The key lies with improving enforcement.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS