In light of increasingly frequent media reports about cruelty to animals, lawmakers across party lines passed a resolution on Thursday demanding the Council of Agriculture (COA) set up an animal protection division to improve care for stray animals. They threatened not to review the council’s budget if it fails to do so.
A survey conducted by the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) over the past three years found that 104 of 122 animal shelters around the nation failed to meet the standards of the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法).
More than 90 percent of the temporary animal detention centers designated by local governments to keep stray animals do not meet the minimum requirements, EAST said.
EAST showed the legislature’s Economic Affairs Committee video clips of dogs and cats being kept in local government-operated centers near garbage fields, cemeteries and slaughterhouses. Some of the animals were fed rotten food and dirty water or were left to die.
At present, environmental protection workers responsible for garbage are also responsible for catching stray dogs and cats.
EAST said the government should set up a agency dedicated to animal protection to deal with the stray animal problem, which has become increasingly serious as people abandon their pets when they find the animals to troublesome or costly to deal with.
Council of Agriculture Vice Minister Wang Cheng-ten (王政騰) said animals placed in animal shelters or local governments centers are humanely killed if they are not claimed or adopted in seven days.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shyu Jong-shyoung (徐中雄) questioned the council’s attitude, noting that earmarked only NT$370 million (US$11.4 million) over the past 10 years to deal with stray animals and just NT$10 million last year.
Committee members suggested the council deliver a report on how it plans to improve animal shelters and treatment of strays, including stringently punishing people who abuse animals or animal protection workers who neglect their jobs. The lawmakers suggested the council setting up a complaint hotline and drawing up a timetable for establishing an animal protection agency.
If the council fails to follow through on the suggestions, the lawmakers said they would boycott the council’s budget.
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