Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) comments yesterday that Taipei could alleviate the problem of stray dogs by having them sent to other cities, municipalities and counties via central government cooperation prompted criticism from netizens and animal enthusiasts.
Lien made the remarks during an interview on Pop Radio when talking about how to implement his zero euthanasia policy for stray dogs.
He said the most important part of the policy was to encourage the residents of the city to adopt animals from shelters instead of buying them from stores.
Lien said it is cruel to buy an animal and then decide to abandon it for whatever reason, adding that through the adoption of animals people are showing they truly understand how to respect life.
When asked about the lack of shelter space, Lien said that the city government could work with non-governmental organizations well as other cities, municipalities and counties.
“Taipei has limited space, and so might New Taipei City, but there should be more space the further south one goes. Yunlin County, maybe, or even Chiayi County,” Lien said.
There are many other counties that could also help alleviate the problem by local government cooperation, he added.
The comments instantly met with criticism on the Internet, with one netizen named rock210548 posting on Professional Technology Temple — the nation’s largest academic online bulletin board — “It’s the same solution as dumping nuclear waste on Orchid Island [蘭嶼, also known as Lanyu].”
Other netizens said Lien’s response might represent what he thinks is the solution to homelessness, while others said his highly prejudiced statements seemed to treat Yunlin County as “Lien’s personal landfill.”
Animal Rescue Team Taiwan spokesman Anthony Ni (倪京台) said Lien did not understand the problem.
“Shelter space in southern Taiwan is also lacking and Yunlin County itself has no shelter at all and keeps all its strays at veterinary clinics,” Ni said. “The entire thought process of dumping Taipei’s problems on southern Taiwan shows that Lien is still seeing problems through the eyes of the affluent and the powerful.”
In response to the criticism, Lien’s campaign office spokesman Liu Kuan-yin (劉冠吟) said Lien’s references to Yunlin and Chiayi counties were based on the thought that there would be more empty land in those counties.
Liu said that most stray shelters in the US are located in rural areas that are at least two hours’ drive from downtown, adding that the primary concern for shelters is that they have enough space.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese