A proposal by National Chengchi University (NCCU) to drive stray dogs from its campus has sparked criticism from faculty members and animal welfare advocates, who have called the scheme absurd, inhumane and against common social values.
Stray dogs lingering on university campuses is a longstanding problem that has baffled many institutions in addition to NCCU, with more than 10 incidents of dog bites reported at campuses nationwide in the past six months.
A group of professors at NCCU proposed a plan to expel the stray dogs from the campus, a motion that was scheduled to be put to a vote by the university council in April.
Photo: Hu Ching-hui, Taipei Times
However, the proposal ran into opposition from students and some faculty, who said that 90 percent of the stray dogs captured and sent to animal shelters were put to death.
They said the plan merely “passed the buck to government agencies.”
NCCU has such a large campus that there is no way to permanently keep out stray dogs, they said. If one pack were expelled, a different pack would wander in, faculty members said, adding that they planned to initiate a petition against the proposal.
Cheng Tien-tse (鄭天澤), a professor in NCCU’s Department of Statistics, who favors the expulsion proposal, said packs of strays often frighten students and faculty. He said the objective was to put a permanent end to the problem.
The university’s Environmental Protection Division said the stray dog problem was undermining campus safety.
An alternative approach was passed by the university council last month, whereby the university now calls a team from an animal shelter to capture any strays following an incidence of biting. In addition, people who take their dog for a walk at the campus are asked to use a leash.
Disputes about how to remedy the problem have been going on for several years.
An incident in which stray dogs were suspected of having being poisoned further inflamed debate. As an alternative, the university adopted the trap-neuter-release (TNR) method in October 2009.
The TNR method, which has been promoted for the relatively humane way it reduces and manages stray animal populations in other countries, was introduced to Taiwan a few years ago by animal welfare advocates.
In response to the university’s proposal, NCCU’s Respect Life Association teacher Lu Chien-yi (盧倩儀) said the university had used the TNR method on occasion.
The plan to expel stray dogs is a return to older and less humane methods, Lu said, and could have a negative impact on the university’s reputation.
National Taiwan University (NTU), where stray dogs are also a problem, until 2006 used the traditional approach of asking exterminators to catch the strays.
After it was determined that the eradication approach was not working, the university turned to the TNR method, with members of student associations managing the stray dog problem.
“Human beings and animals can actually get along in an amiable manner,” said Liu Chen-hsuan (劉振軒), dean of NTU’s School of Veterinary Medicine, adding that bites from strays had been few and far between at NTU in recent years.
According to Taipei City Animal Protection Office director Yen I-feng (嚴一峰), the office received numerous calls from NCCU reporting dog bites in the past, while other districts had recorded far fewer such incidents.
Stray dogs that present a security concern are prioritized, given limits on the office’s manpower, Yen said.
According to statistics from the office, the number of stray dogs captured by the agency has been decreasing annually, with between 2,000 and 3,000 dogs caught on average in the past three years.
Strays have also been a problem at the National University of Kaohsiung, which has a fenceless campus that has allowed a dog invasion. Many owners choose the campus as convenient location to abandon their pets, which has resulted in multiple packs roaming the campus, sometimes chasing and biting people.
To address the problem, the university considered a draft method for stray animal management in October last year, which was discussed by the university council.
Most participants vetoed the proposal, saying it was redundant. Given that the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) already covered the issue, a consensus was reached whereby stray dogs would be handled according to Articles 20 and 21 of the act — strays would be caught and sent to the Animal Protection Office in Greater Kaohsiung.
At National Cheng Kung University, students set up a volunteer team for stray animals. Team members would neuter, bath and vaccinate stray dogs, with a regular feeding schedule.
“Do not feed stray dogs if you want to prevent more of them entering the campus,” the volunteer team said, adding that stray dogs already on the university campus would be taken good care of.
However, the peaceful coexistence between humans and animals at the nation’s universities does not only involve stray dogs.
National Sun Yat-sen University Secretary Yang Yu-cheng (楊育成) said the university is bothered by a large population of about 2,000 Formosan rock macaque monkeys that lived on Takao Hill (柴山).
The monkeys frequently raid stores and dormitories between October and April, as they were short of food in the mountains during winter, Yang said.
Humans should nevertheless respect the “indigenous inhabitants,” as monkeys had been around since well before humans arrived.
Yang’s experience over the past decade was that students’ “horrific” memories of monkey attacks would become more nostalgic after they graduated. Monkey attacks mostly disturbed the freshmen at the university, he added.
“So freshmen generally shut and lock their windows to avoid a possible monkey invasion,” Yang said.
He said the monkeys first hide in the trees and watch, then dash into unlocked dormitories or convenience stores. Students should notify university security personnel if the monkeys attack, rather than staging a counterattack, he added.
At National Chung Cheng University, students used to be annoyed by pigeon droppings — being bombarded from up high and slipping on the slimy mess.
University buildings are linked by many roofless passages that are full of edges and corners, which turned it into an ideal residence for pigeons, a pet that is in vogue with people living nearby.
The university said pigeon feces had made the open courtyard of its activity center unpleasant to use and elicited constant complaints from students. They had attempted to expel the pigeons using artificial eagles and electrification, but had failed.
According to the university officials, last year the school set up solar panels in the activity center along with nets, which seems to have solved the problem.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, Staff Writer
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