Several animal protection groups on Friday demanded that the Changhua County Government tackle the problem of stray dogs, after its animal shelter was discovered housing twice the number of dogs it can handle.
Since the nation’s “no mercy killing” policy for stray animals came into effect in February 2017, many public animal shelters have reported problems with overcrowding.
Dozens of group representatives, who gathered at a news conference with the county government on Friday, held images showing dogs crowded in small cages.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
They also delivered a petition to officials regarding the improvement of shelter conditions for the animals.
The number of stray dogs registered in Changhua has grown from nearly 7,000 in 2015 to 16,000 last year, the groups said, citing data compiled by the Council of Agriculture.
The county’s public shelter in Yuanlin Township (員林) has taken in 344 animals, more than double its maximum capacity of 161 animals, they said.
Four to five dogs are forced to stay in cages designed for two because the county government catches and sends them to the shelter, said Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), secretary-general of the Taiwan Animal Protection Administration Administrative Oversight Alliance.
Stray animals breed quickly, and if the government does not reduce their numbers by neutering them, the situation would continue to worsen, Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals legal specialist Chou Jing-fan (周敬凡) said.
Changhua County councilors Lai Tse-min (賴澤民), Chuang Sheng-han (莊陞漢) and Wu Wei-ta (吳韋達) supported the groups’ appeals.
Instead of catching only aggressive dogs that chase after cars and people, officials began seizing any stray dog, so that they could earn more rewards provided by the county government, Lai said.
Admitting that the county’s shelter is overcrowded, Changhua Department of Agriculture Director-General Chiu Yi-chih (邱奕志) said the public shelters in nine municipalities, whether they are run by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or the Democratic Progressive Party commissioners, share the same problem.
Over the past three years, the county government did not effectively carry out the “trap, neuter, vaccination and return” program for stray animals, while the current administration is more effective and has put 431 stray animals through the program, Chiu said.
The county government is looking for location at which to build another shelter, he said.
Only 78 percent of local households have registered their pets’ information, meaning that there is room for improvement, he added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it