A woman and her daughter have completed a nearly one-month round-the-island trip aimed at raising awareness about animal welfare and promoting what they consider a more humane method for dealing with strays.
Yu Chun-hui (余春慧), a 43-year-old animal lover from Nantou County’s Puli Township (埔里), said her family has four cats, but also takes everyday care of several strays.
Her daughter, Hsu Chien-yi (許倩宜), 23, shares the same charitable spirit and is a volunteer at an animal welfare organization.
Yu said that the law permitting the euthanasia of animals that have remained in an animal shelter for more than 12 days is an inhumane practice and should be replaced by TNVR — trap-neuter-vaccinate-return — which she described as a more humane and effective method of feral animal control promoted by many animal welfare organizations.
She said she feared that the outbreak of rabies in the south in 2013 might lead to the gratuitous capture and killing of more street dogs, a situation that she hopes could be changed by amending the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) to replace euthanasia with TNVR.
The duo said they had been planning the trip for years, and finally put it into action on Feb. 25.
The pair took to the road armed with nothing beyond their conviction, courage and a makeshift suitcase converted from a grocery cart.
The cart was draped in folds of cloth on which a slogan was printed: “Traveling around the island in support of TNVR legislation.”
They traveled at least 30km each day, by foot or public transport.
Recalling the trip, they said the most memorable episode was the journey along the Suhua Highway in eastern Taiwan. It was windy and raining heavily, with large trucks whizzing by on the highway, but they endured the hardship, they said.
Yu said that neither of them had any sense of direction, so they bought a pair of smartphones and downloaded a number of navigation apps. However, that did not stop the two from getting lost every day even with the help of GPS technology.
“It was the locals’ hospitality that guided us throughout the journey,” they said, adding that some strangers even offered them free rides, while a number of farmers treated them to food and drinks.
That, in addition to discounts on food and lodgings, helped them spend less than NT$30,000 for the 26-day trip.
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