Chinese Culture University in Taipei has 25 classes for pet owners this year, including courses on pet nutrition, behavioral science and photography.
Hsieh Chia-hui (謝佳蕙), who teaches a class on pet behavioral science, on Saturday said that Taiwanese are doing more homework before getting a pet, with some consulting experts to select breeds that suit their lifestyle.
Prospective cat owners who enjoy activity should consider getting mix-breed cats, which tend to be more energetic, while those who prefer a quieter lifestyle should try exotic shorthairs or ragdolls, which are more sedentary, Hsieh said.
Photo: CNA
While most pet owners are young people, an increasing number of older couples are also getting pets, she said.
Some elderly people get a pet to provide company after their children leave home to start their own families, while others became attached to pets they bought or adopted for their children, she said.
Lin Yan-te (林衍德), who has a pet nutritionist certificate from Japan, said his class would cover dishes that people and their pets could enjoy together.
Tempura can be shared with cats, as they are fond of seafood, while pumpkin helps them to dissolve hair, while owners could also make home-dried cuttlefish or octopus, which are taurine-rich and good for cats, he said.
Pet photographer Liu Chih-hao (劉智豪) said that animals are more easily photographed when they are playing with a favorite toy or relaxing.
Approaching the pet directly with a camera or device could lead to nervousness and unnatural poses, he said.
Changes in patterns of pet ownership and the interests of owners have prompted the university to diversity its pet-related courses, said Lee Chia-nung (李家儂), dean of the university’s School of Continuing Education.
More courses are being run to reflect the increasing number of cat owners, while classes about caring for aging pets and other aspects of human-pet interaction have been added to a curriculum that once focused on training, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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