Officials in four counties have called for the easing of restrictions on euthanizing stray animals, citing poor adoption rates and overcrowding of animal shelters.
Officials in Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin and Changhua counties have said that since euthanizing strays became illegal in February, there has been a decrease in the number of people adopting stray pets, further exacerbating crowding at shelters.
Yunlin County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center technician Cheng An-kuo (鄭安國) said the policy was implemented without an appropriate information campaign and complementary measures.
The public is now under the impression that it can abandon pets and the government will simply help care for the animals, he said, adding that the adoption rate nationwide dropped from more than 90 percent in January to less than 30 percent last month.
By that time, shelters in Nantou, Chiayi and Miaoli counties, as well as those in Taoyuan and New Taipei City had reached full capacity, he said, adding that shelters in Taichung and in Yunlin, Changhua and Penghu counties are now at about 90 percent capacity.
One shelter in Changhua is keeping four dogs per cage, he said.
Nantou County Animal Disease Control Center Director Tang Chia-yung (唐佳永) said the center originally only took in pets from elderly owners who could no longer take care of them.
If centers would need to take animals from anyone who abandons their pets, it would compromise their ability to help legitimate strays, Tang said.
The situation is worse for older dogs, which nobody wants to adopt, Changhua County Animal Disease Control Center Director Tung Meng-chih (董孟治) said.
These dogs, which the centers refer to as “prisoners for life,” account for about 20 percent of dogs in shelters, he said.
As there is little space for captured animals in the Yunlin shelters now, they only respond to calls to capture animals that might attack people, Yung said, adding that Chiayi used to capture up to 3,000 strays a year, but now only takes in 300.
Legitimate strays have increased in number and so have cases of people getting bitten, he said, adding that Yunlin received 3,126 calls for animal capture by November this year, up from 836 last year.
One Yunlin County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center staff member said that many of the latest cases involved stray dogs chasing people or cars, or large packs of dogs frightening residents.
Some residents have begun taking matters into their own hands, the staff member said, citing a woman who in October poisoned strays that had bitten her chickens.
Another woman fell while being chased by strays in September, after which her friend fed the strays chicken feet laced with poison, they said.
Additional reporting by Chang Tsung-chiu, Hsieh Chieh-yu, Tsai Tsung-hsun and Lin Kuo-hsien
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