A hairless, illness-stricken Rottweiler that escaped from the brink of death thanks to the attentive care of a British expatriate in Taiwan has recently been crowned the winner in the “Best Transformation” category of this year’s Ruffs, an annual award held by the UK’s leading animal welfare charity, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
The dog, nicknamed Tiny, was abandoned on the streets of Taiwan and left in a terribly emaciated state when Sean McCormack, the founder of a New Taipei City-based animal shelter called The Sanctuary, came to its rescue in August 2012, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
“At first, I thought he was a mastiff, because he was in such a bad state that it wasn’t clear to me what breed he really was,” McCormack was quoted as saying. “But my friend Jeff, who has two very lucky rescued Rottweilers, knew right away that Tiny was a Rottie.”
Tiny started making a smooth recovery under McCormack’s care and the medical care of the Yang Ming Veterinary Clinic in Taipei City’s Shilin District (士林).
Although Rottweilers are large dogs that are known for their aggression, volunteers at the sanctuary said Tiny was an “affable giant whose gentle disposition melted their hearts away.”
“We knew we could cure him, but were astounded at what a fantastic dog had been hidden beneath the disease and depression that riddled him when he first came in,” McCormack was quoted as saying.
Tiny’s miraculous recovery allowed him to win the Ruffs’ “Best Transformation” title with about 180,000 votes. His transformation was so startling that some netizens even questioned whether the before and after photographs of Tiny were fake.
McCormack founded the animal sanctuary after he moved to Taiwan about 15 years ago. However, the more than 200 rescued animals living in the sanctuary could become homeless again, as his landlord plans to sell the property.
“We are starting an IndieGoGo campaign and hoping to use Tiny’s story and Ruffs victory to help bring international attention to our plight,” he said.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-tsung
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
RSS