A festival in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) yesterday saw hundreds of pets and pet owners gather to celebrate World Animal Day, while the city government pledged a zero euthanasia policy at an adoption fair in Yonghe District (永和).
Holding placards and shouting slogans during the festival at the 435 Art Zone in Banciao, animal rights activists encouraged the adoption of stray animals and called for an end to animal trading and pet abandonment, while animal lovers gathered to enjoy live music and performances.
Part of the revenue from a market set up by animal rights groups and private businesses would be donated to animal welfare, the event organizers said.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
The organizers said an exhibition showcasing works by three animal artists would run until Oct. 18 to promote animal rights awareness.
Photographer Tou Yun-fei’s (杜韻飛) pictures show various dogs, moments before they were euthanized by government shelters.
Death row dogs were pictured in classic portrait format to make people look at the animals as emotional and dignified beings, the organizers said, adding that they hoped the pictures would help the public to reconsider euthanasia as a way to solve the problem of stray animals.
Photographer Ray Chin’s (金磊) pictures show marine mammals such as dolphins and humpback whales giving birth to and nurturing baby whales.
The organizers said they hoped Chin’s display can encourage people to pay more attention to the conservation of marine mammals.
Artist and animal rights activist Wang Chin-ching’s (王勤靜) sketches capturing shelter dogs up for adoption are exhibited along with the animal’s life stories to boost their chance of adoption, the organizers said.
Separately, the Yonghe adoption fair saw city officials and animal rights groups sign a pledge for a zero euthanasia policy that the city announced in March, while the city government said that its ultimate goal is to have zero pet abandonment.
The fair also offered free vaccination and chip implantats for cats and dogs, as well as education programs to promote trap-neuter-vaccinate-return as an effective animal control measure and instruct the public on how to interact with animals in a safe and friendly way.
The city government said it has established 27 adoption stations with private pet businesses and transferred more than 200 cats and dogs to adoptive families since March.
Meanwhile, 80 Maltese were available for adoptions at the office of Taiwan Life Caring and Animal Rescue Organization in the city’s Shulin District (樹林).
They were among the 180 Maltese that were given up by a puppy mill in Yunlin County and transferred to the organization last month, and the 80 dogs were neutered before adoption to prevent pet breeders from taking over the animals, the organization said, adding that the remaining dogs would be up for adoption later when they are healthier.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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