The Animal Rescue Team Taiwan yesterday urged authorities to investigate a plastic animal trap that has become popular online, after the organization received reports from animal lovers.
People are aware that the use of traditional, metal animal traps has been prohibited, Animal Rescue Team spokesperson Anthony Ni (倪京台) said.
However, the organization has received reports about a plastic trap, dubbed a “modified animal trap,” claiming to be a new, “third-generation” product with a “200 percent capture rate” that can kill mice instantly, Ni said.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
The traps can be found on major online retail Web sites and are being sold for NT$39 each, he said, adding that a seller was offering a buy-three-get-one-free deal.
The seller included more than 10 photographs and videos demonstrating how the trap works, he said.
The trap is incredibly powerful and could break a child’s fingers if they get them caught in it, Ni said.
Animal traps, as defined in Article 2-1 of the Enforcement Rules of Animal Protection (動物保護法施行細則), are “devices designed to catch and restrain an animal by using strong spring operated [jaws] either with or without a serrated edge or teeth” — regardless of construction material or product name, he said, citing a Council of Agriculture statement.
Although “modified animal traps” on the market are not made of metal and are being called things like “magical mouse-capturing device,” the regulations define them as traps, Ni said.
Offenders could be fined between NT$15,000 and NT$75,000 for the unauthorized production, sale, display, import or export of animal traps under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), he said.
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